True Friendship
by brooklynsam3
Summary: Friendship made, then lost, and finally regained. Follow Hermione and Draco as they find out that True Friendship will always find you. DM/HG.
1. A Meeting

**AN: Hey! This is my first fanfic, it's a roleplay with Mike (from dennisnmike), so please be gentle, and constructive critism is welcome! Don't forget to thank her too. The bold is mike and the regular writing is me (brooklynsam3). Enjoy! :)**

**The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine.**

It was a beautiful summer day. The clouds were nowhere in sight, just the sun shinning brightly. If you looked closely enough you could see a little girl around six sitting next to a big tree that casted a big shade over the playground. She was reading a book beyond her year. While the other little kids played she read. The little girl's name was Hermione Jane Granger. She has waist length medium brown hair, honey-brown eyes, tanned completion, thin and tall for her age. Her parents are successful dentists, even though they are wealthy her parents still taught her morals. Hermione paused from reading her favorite book Becoming Rosemary by Frances Wood.

She looked around at the other little kids playing together and she wondered how it was like to have a friend and play all day long until they were exhausted. But all they saw was a know-it-all bookworm who was bossy. They didn't care to get to know the real her; the kind, caring, and courageous girl that she was. She never had the intention to be seen as bossy and a know-it-all, she just likes to learn without interruptions. Now she uses that mask to cover up for her true feelings of sadness and loneliness. That's when she saw him. The cutest boy she had ever seen sitting on the swing.

**Draco Malfoy sat on the swing in a fairly populated playground, not swinging, just sitting. His parents would find it inappropriate to know he was here in a Muggle park, even if he wasn't partaking in the strange Muggle games of 'Tag' and 'Hide-and-go-seek' (which, as far as he could tell, had absolutely nothing to do with seeking).**

**His tutor (who was not a Pure-blood, as no Pure-blood would lower themselves to the task of tutoring a child of merely six years) saw no problem with bringing the pale child into the bright, cheery park, surely thinking it would tan his skin that she thought to be a sickly tone. The Malfoys had not forbade this, as they could not understand the draw of non-magical people, never suspecting the woman they paid so highly to bring their susceptible darling to see the beasts.**

**So it was that a proud, Pure-blood child of the fairest ivory skin and white-blond hair came to rest on a swing. Draco had seen another boy sitting just where he was, but the boy had been having fun. He had been moving somehow, Draco guessed his parents had spelled the device into working, but he did not know how to operate it by himself.**

**"Go!" He told it sternly, wondering if it was set to work on command like his toy broom would jump into his hand. Draco pouted stormily as this attempt also failed. This was not fun. His tutor had promised him fun if he finished his posture lessons early, and he had, but not knowing the children and having no knowledge of the intricacies of manual labor, he could find no way to enjoy the playground.**

**Giving up, he hopped off the swing to the bark and dirt below, grimacing as it brushed his shoes and clung to his play-trousers' legs. Deciding he'd had enough of all the wood chunks, he strode casually and carefully into the grass, surveying the area and finding his tutor sitting on a bench, reading a novel.**

**Shade fell across his face, given to him by a large tree. Draco was intrigued by the girl beneath it, who was also not playing. Perhaps she did not know the secret of the swings, either.**

**"Hello, Miss." He greeted, unsure of her status. If he knew her last name he could probably tell if he could boss her about, but at the moment he decided it was safer just to be polite. "You seem to be . . ." Draco paused. She seemed to be quite alone under a tree with nothing but a book. Her clothes were nothing special, her hair was rather bushy in its chocolate brown hues, and he was now uncertain about what to comment on. "Having fun." His tone was almost questioning as he raised a pale brow in a trademarked Malfoy look, imperious, yet quizzical.**

**Not positive this conversation would get him anywhere, he took the direct route. "Do you know how to work that?" He asked, pointing to the swing he had been sitting in while giving it a small scowl.**  
Hermione had been pretending to be reading when she noticed the boy walking to her. When he started talking she was looking at him with interest because she didn't think that anyone would approach her because of her bookworm ways. When she finally registered what he was asking her, she looked at him questioningly because he didn't know how to play on a swing. She thought that maybe he lived somewhere that didn't have swings, or maybe he never had one. After a few seconds she said in a gentle tone: "All you have to do is sit on the swing and push yourself front and back with your feet. Do you want me to teach you?" She looked at him wating for his reply, she was secretly hoping that he would say yes since she never had any friend or anybody period to play with.

**Draco was ready to scoff. A Malfoy did not need to be taught by someone of questionable blood! He looked back to the swing, rather unsure, and thought about how very much he would like using it. "If you wouldn't mind." He allowed.**

**Perhaps it would not be as horrible as she made it sound. Pushing with his legs? Could be something like riding a broom, where one had to move it airborn before it would work to their command. It did not occur to him that he should lower his hand to her, offer her help up as he was forcing her to help him, so he stood, waiting. He sniffed indignantly for the show of it.**  
She smiled, "I don't mind." Unsure of what to do next she stood up and asked him to follow her. While they where waling to the swings she suddenly had the urge to ask him a lot of questions like what's his name, where he's from, and anything else that came into her mind. But she settled for just asking his name. For some reason she was nervous so she hesitated, 'why am I being so nervous I just need to know his name so I can properly speak to him. So here goes.'

"What's you're name, I have never seen you here before?" She look at him so she could see his face properly, and she noticed that he had his face in the shape of smirk just like he had when he approached her.

**A blond brow rose at her unsubtle question. Purebloods were almost always subtle. "Draco Malfoy." He told her simply, loving the way it rolled from his tongue. He was very proud of his name.**

**Quickly he glanced her way, looking for some sort of reaction. At the sound of his name he would usually see respect or awe, it earned his followers and people he pretended were his friends. "Yours?" Draco's tone was still polite, but his manor rapidly turned aggressive. The swing was close now; he wanted to get answers before becoming distracted. Would he still play with her if she wasn't pure? His father wouldn't approve.**  
She saw him look at her for a reaction. She did not understand why, but she liked the name. She also wondered why he sounded a bit aggressive when all she was doing was asking what his name was. "My name is Hermione Granger. Your name means dragon in Latin doesn't it?" she said in a know-it-all manner. She looked at him innocently yet showing him that she was not one to be messed with.

**Draco's mind automatically searched his memories for any mention of a 'Granger' family. He couldn't remember one, but she surprised him pleasantly at knowing the origin of his name. "Yes, it does. Don't call me 'Dragon', though." He ordered warningly. His Aunt Bella used to do it when making fun of him, and once Pansy Parkinson had heard it and decided to tease him with it also. "I like my name the way it is, Miss Granger."**

**He also quite liked the chocolate color of her eyes, it reminded him of the cakes his nanny used to make him on his birthdays and the candies his mother made daily. But of course, he wouldn't tell her that. They were now in front of the swing, and he stared at it dubiously. "Could you show me now?" Draco asked, hoping it would be quite easy to learn, though he was rather intelligent.**  
She laughed a little when he warned her about not calling him dragon. "I won't." she said. She was surprised when he said Miss Granger, nobody ever said that unless they were a teacher of an adult, even though she was surprised she thought it was cute when he was being a gentleman. She thought that he had the most beautiful bluish-grey eyes. Of course she would never admit that because she was afraid he might think that she was crazy and run away.

"Sure, you could call me Hermione." she said. "Let me show you will I do it. First you sit on the swing, then you dig your heel a little bit into the ground so you can push your self hard, and lastly you push yourself with your heel, back and repeat that every time you're about to go back. And to go faster your just push harder." After she told him she got off and motioned for him to try it. She looked at him hoping she didn't loose him while she was giving him that speech.

**Draco thought about this for a second, then about how he had seen the other children do it. He nodded bravely, balancing easily. "Thank you, Mi- . . . Hermione." He said, smiling. He shoved back, almost unseated by the movement, then the swing fell forward just a bit. Draco repeated the motion, thinking he was getting it right.**

**It was strange to him that she let him so easily use her given name. He hadn't been invited to do such, nor had he wanted to with any of his other followers. Draco heard that friends called each other by first name, and he knew siblings did (his mum called his aunt 'Bella' and his aunt called her 'Cissy' and 'Cissa'). Maybe she wanted to be friends?**

**He decided to go for the direct approach, just as she had for his name. "Would you like to be friends?"**  
He looked really nice when he smiled, it suited him nicely. She had to bite the inside of her mouth because she was about to laugh out loud when he nearly fell. That would have been mean if she did too. She noticed that he was learning fast and she liked that idea because it meant that she could have a good conversation with him.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard him ask her if the wanted to be friends. She smiled and then replied, "Yes." Yay! She was so happy that she wanted to run around the playground because she now had a friend. Now when she went home and her parents said what happened in school she could tell them that she made a friend.

**Draco's smile widened, he had a friend. Maybe one that he could talk to like his father did, in secret. He was sure they talked of important things.**

**Secret. The word itself carried so much meaning within pureblood families that strove to hide things about themselves at all times. Prophecies some long-dead relative wrote. Books of arts no longer practiced. A way that was forgotten except to them, a way never to be understood by any outsiders. Draco had no real secrets, none that were his own . . . But he'd like to get some, and he'd like to share them with a special friend.**

**Perhaps Hermione would be that friend. The day had gone considerably better than he had thought upon coming to the park, this was the kind of happiness he'd thought to experience when his tutor made him study for it.**  
When Hermione was in bed last night she was thinking about how here day went. She had a lot of fun with Draco. After school had finished she was picked up by her mom, she was so excited to tell her parents about Draco. A little too excited because her mom had to tell her to slow down. When Hermione told her parents they were happy for her because they noticed that she was a little withdrawn with the kids in school. Well that's what the teacher told them.

Hermione was thinking so much that sleep was coming fast so her brain could have a break. she was slowly drifting off to sleep.

_Dream_

_Hermione was reading (as usual) under the big tree in the playground when Draco came by to play with her. She saw that he was upset, she didn't know why. So she asked him. "What's wrong Draco?" She looked at him with concern in her eyes. "Nothing." said Draco. "Well something must be wrong because you're upset. So why don't you tell me to see if telling me will make you feel better." she asked a little impatiently. _

_He ignored her and started walking away. She was heartbroken because he didn't trust her enough to tell her anything. When she tried to run after him it was as if she were running in the same spot and couldn't get anywhere._

_End Dream_

She woke up in the middle of the night crying because she didn't understand what her dream meant and she really wanted to know. She just hoped that it was just a dream and will never actually happen to her. After that sort of comforting thought she fell asleep again.

**Draco sat at a silent dinner table, waiting permission to begin his meal, the first course already lain out in all its magnificence. He looked to his father, who stared back at him.**

**"What have you learned today, Draco?" He asked, his voice low and searching.**

**He was already sitting quite straight, but straightened further. "Correct posture and I am still studying in my French, Father." Draco told him, smiling.**

**"Don't do that. Get that look off your face, it's weak." His father told him. "I can read every single thought in your mind when you allow it. Obviously you've learned nothing."**

**Lucius Malfoy had not had as good a day as his son, it seemed. He was working himself into a rage at that very moment.**

**"Darling, Lucius . . ." Narcissa Malfoy called, trying for his attention and to save Draco from a punishment she didn't think him deserving of.**

**"No. You'll go without dinner and practice keeping your thoughts from your face." He told Draco. "I will not be put to shame by your inability to keep anything to yourself any longer. You're not a child."**

**"Lucius, he's only six years-" She reasoned again. She was quite happy with her child's progressive learning and did not mind his loving smiles.**

**"HE IS A PUREBLOOD AND WILL SHOW IT PROPERLY!" Lucius bellowed.**

**Draco sat, stony-faced, waiting until he was given another order and trying not to cry.**

**"You're scaring him!" Narcissa shrieked back.**

**"If you can tell that then he is FAILING! He is my heir and I won't have you weakening him. Go to your room, Draco, until you're a suitable Malfoy."**

**With that demand to be met, he slid from his chair and walked to his room, falling onto his bed and thinking of how he wished to be back in the park with Hermione.**

**He fell asleep, and with the thought of brown eyes and wild hair in his mind's eye, he dreamed of her. Vague dreams of laughing that turned into a nightmare of sobs and screams. He woke up in tears, praying to Merlin he'd never hear such a terrifying sound again.**

**Unsettled as he was, Draco eventually fell into another, restless sleep.**  
BEEP! BEEEEP! BBEEEEEEEPP!

Hermione woke up the next day with a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. The weather outside didn't help her mood either since it was pouring rain and was dark. She got up and went to her bathroom, when she finished she went to her dresser and picked out a pair of baby blue shorts and a white tank top, then she brushed and put her hair in a messy ponytail.

"Hermione, please come down for breakfast!" her mother called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Be there in a minute!" said Hermione.

Hermione was walking down the stairs to the kitchen when she heard her mom singing along with Kat DeLuna's Whine Up. "Mom! I didn't know you knew that song let alone sing it. You sounds great!" Hermione said.

"Well of course I know the song, I'm not that old. And thank you honey." Hermione's mom said. Then kissed her daughters forehead.

"So what's for breakfast?"

"Eggs, bacon, and French toast."

"Yay! My favorite! Can I get two eggs, two bacons, and two toasts, thank you." said Hermione.

"Sure sweetheart. Just set the table so you, me and your father can eat together." Hermione's mom said.

"Okay." said Hermione.

"Good morning Jane, Hermione." said Hermione's father.

"Good morning." Hermione and her mom said at the same time.

After they finished their breakfast Hermione went back to her room so she could finish re-reading her favorite book.

**Draco woke, shivering. He'd shed his covers in his sleep while tossing about. Something had woken him, and it wasn't the storm brewing outside.**

**"Draco?" A soft voice called again.**

**"Yes, Mother?" He sat up, confused as to why she was waking him and worried.**

**"Your father would like to see you, darling." She told him, opening his door and taking a gingerly step into the large room.**

**"Yes, Mother." He replied, trying to keep from trembling. Draco hated upsetting his father.**

**"You must not allow him to see you afraid." Narcissa warned, sitting on the edge of his bed and stroking his hair. She smiled to him, the smile she normally gave when she was trying to get him to go to sleep as a toddler. It was warm, reassuring, gentle, everything a Malfoy should never be.**

**"I won't." Draco promised. He wouldn't, either. He wanted his father to be proud and his mother to be happy.**

**"I'll have Dobby make you some breakfast, you must be starving." She comforted, still smiling.**

**"Yes, please." He said eagerly, moving without thought into her touch.**

**She paused, thinking, then hesitated. Draco was sure he'd upset her until he looked up to find her face an expression of inner turmoil, an expression he was sure his father would never allow on her visage. Quickly, she took him into her arms, giving him a brief but loving embrace.**

**"Get dressed and go, Draco."**

**"Yes, mother." She left the room and he did as he was told, steadying himself and preparing for the worst.**

After she finished reading her book Hermione went downstairs to the kitchen to ask her parents if they could take her to the park since it was sunny now. It was around noon.

"Mom, Dad can you take me to the park so I can play for a little bit?" Hermione asked with a pouty face.

Her parents started laughing. "Sure honey, just give us a second so we can get ready, okay?" Jane said.

"Alright. Thank you." Hermione said.

Hermione went back to her room and put on some green soccer shorts and a green t-shirt to match. After she was finished she went downstairs to meet her parents. They were waiting for her at the front door.

"Are you ready Hermione?" asked John (her father).

"Yes daddy." Hermione said with a smile.

"Okay then let's go!" Jane said.

When they got to the park it was a little wet, but the sun had evaporated most of the rain. Hermione started to run toward the swings, which happened to be her favorite part of the park since she had fun playing with Draco there.

"Be careful Hermione!" John said in a worried tone.

"Don't worry I will." Said Hermione.

"We'll be sitting in the bench a few yards away if you need us." Jane told Hermione.

"Yes mommy." Hermione said.

While she was swinging herself higher and higher she was hoping that Draco would come so they can play together. She just hoped that the dream she had that morning didn't mean that Draco was actually not going to trust her and then leave her.

_Hermione cut it out he's fine and he's not going to leave you. He will also trust you in time just like what you would do. So stop worrying about it. _  
**The talk was short, detailing that Draco was to try much harder and that he would get lessons from his father starting the next day.**

**After a short breakfast he walked down the hall to find his tutor looking happily down at him, obviously oblivious to his previous trials. "How would you like to go to the park again?" She questioned.**

**Perhaps he would see Hermione and the day would be another good one. He fought a grin, knowing it would no longer be allowed in his home. "I would like that very much, Madam. Could we please?"**

**"Lessons were on manners and proper English today, I say you've passed. Let's go."**

**And they did. She let him be as soon as they reached the park, at which point he quickly found Hermione on the swings.**

**He smiled without thinking, running to her and her comforting childish ways. Draco didn't understand what exactly he sought in the friendship that she was what he was not allowed to be, but he did know that he wanted her to like him. "Hello again." he said, grinning at her. "It's very nice to see you."**  
"Hi, it's nice to see you too." Hermione continued. "Do you want to meet my parents? They're tight over at that bench near the tree."

But before Draco had any time to react Hermione was running to her parents and dragging Draco with her.

"Mom, Dad, this is Draco Malfoy. Draco this is my mom Jane and my dad John." Hermione stated.

"Hello, nice to meet you Draco." Jane said while looking at Draco with curious eyes.

"Nice to meet you." John said smiling.

**"Hello, Mrs. . . ." Draco paused, he'd completely forgotten the girl's last name after thinking of her as 'Hermione'. A second later, he had it again. "Granger, Mr. Granger." He nodded to each in turn. "Very pleasant meeting you, rest assured." He smirked rather than smiled, hoping to practice doing such.**  
"We have heard great things about you Draco." Said Jane. She looked at her daughter and smiled yes her little Hermione was growing up.

Hermione was about to die of embarrassment, she knew that she must look like a tomato from blushing so hard. Her mother was supposed to keep that to herself and if she couldn't she could have told her father and no one else.

_Oh God, I hope that Draco doesn't here that comment, I hope that he was thinking of something at that moment._  
**Draco's smirk widened, as he was sure it should, at Mrs. Granger's slip, but he really wasn't paying much attention. He was wondering how his parents would react if he attempted to introduce her to them.**

**He could just imagine their disgust, as Hermione was obviously not a witch (her parents looked just like Muggles, he was positive they really were), or if she was she was a Mudblood. His father would probably forbid him from leaving the house without a proper pureblood looking after him. His tutor would be fired. Hermione would go home crying. He would go without dinner and think about his actions.**

**Draco did not like this train of thought. "I'm pleased to hear that, Mrs. Granger." He told her, his face posed almost just how it should be.**

"Hermione dear you have about half an hour before wHermione decided that she had had enough of her parents embarrassing words. So she said, "Now that you've met my parents we could go back to playing." Hopefully she could get him away from her parents; it was such a bad idea introducing them. _Oh well, what's done is done._ "We have to go, okay?" John said.

"Yes, daddy." Hermione said.

Once they were at the swings, Hermione said "Sorry about that, my mom can be weird sometimes." _God was she the worst liar ever._  
**"That's quite alright." Draco assured. He didn't act well with other children, he was told, because he had no experience with being a 'friend'. For the moment he decided short, nice sentences were in order, and he'd figure out the rest by taking hints from Hermione (who seemed to have no problem with the idea of friendship).**  
"What are your parent's names?" Hermione asked.

**His head turned gently to one side, mildly surprised. Everyone he'd ever known knew his parents before him. "Narcissa Black-Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy." Draco answered easily, having heard it said by many of the people around his home. He loved speaking about his family, but wasn't sure if Hermione would be interested in a conversation revolving around how fascinating his family was, so he stayed quiet.**  
"They are nice names." Hermione complimented. "Would you mind if we play twenty questions? So we can get to know each other I mean, but if you don't want to you don't have to. I just wanted to get to know you better." Hermione ranted.

**Draco looked at her strangely for a second, as if she were from another planet. Twenty Questions. He guessed it was a Muggle game, involving (most likely) the asking of twenty questions. He didn't mind playing along, he supposed. If she didn't ask anything he couldn't tell, it would be a fun enough game. "Surely I'd enjoy playing." He told her, grinning easily for a moment before the look became just a happy smirk. "You may ask the first question." She was, of course, the one who had come up with the idea to play, so this was only fair.**  
"Umm..let's see...what is your favorite color?" asked Hermione happy that he accepted her offer to get to know each other.

**"Grey." He told her easily. Draco adored it, and emerald green was certainly growing on him, so he supposed he was a born-Slytherin (which made him very happy).**

**He was completely lost as to what to ask (he assumed it was now his turn). With a mental shrug, he went for the easiest question. "What is yours?"**  
"Hmm...well I really like red and gold. I guess they are my favorite colors." Hermione said thinking to herself as to why she had always liked those two colors.

_After this day they started meeting biweekly._

**AN: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I like to know what you think! :)**


	2. History

**AN: Here's chapter 2. Sorry if I may validate late, I get a lot of homework from my college courses. Enjoy! ****Reminder: Bold is mike, regular is me.****Disclaimer: The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine, and if mike decides to add more characters then those original characters are hers.**

* * *

**Nine years old and already rumors circulated about the pair. Pansy Parkinson's tutor had gotten to know Draco's, and she had learned about his friendship with Hermione some time ago, meeting her a few times herself. Pansy sat down next to him as they waited in the park, both perched on swings and Draco pushed himself easily and Pansy stared at her shoes.****"She's a dirty Muggle. It's disgusting." Pansy told him again.****"Shut up." He ordered promptly. He was used to her complaints; it seemed she'd acquired something of a crush on him over the last year or so.****"Draco, really, I'm telling you as a friend. You can't be around her. You're going to school in two years and she can't come. She's not a witch, she's filthy without magic. What if she . . . what if she finds out about us?" There was almost no trace of real fear in her tone, and he doubted that she could mask it so well.****"Then she finds out and I can stop hiding this from my best friend." Draco touched his hair, he now wore it slicked back like his father. He wasn't sure if he liked it, but his mum cried when she'd first seen him with it and told him that he looked the perfect pureblood, so he supposed it was all right. "And **_**she's**_** not dirty. If you want to see dirty and disgusting, look at Crabbe and Goyle."****She giggled despite herself, and then bit down on her lip to hide it. "She likes another boy, you know." Pansy blurted.****"Hm?" He wasn't quite sure if she was lying or not. Surely Hermione would tell him this before Pansy . . .?****"She told me last week when you were in the bathroom. Some stupid Muggle boy." She glanced at him as if checking for a reaction and Draco gave her nothing.****He was very used to hiding things by now, he had to be, Lucius expected nothing less of an heir and he was already nine years old, practically waiting at Hogwarts' doorstep. "All right. What's that got to do with me?"****"I just thought you'd like to know since you make eyes pathetically at her every time she's around. She's not even pretty, that load of bushy hair and those **_**teeth**_**!"****"I said 'shut up', Parkinson, and I meant it. As in now. So do, before I hex you."****"You haven't brought your practice wand, and I know it." Pansy said smugly.****"I'll push you off the slide, then." He threatened through his teeth.****"Oh, come off it, Mugg-"****"Pansy, really, just shut up and leave me be." Draco was out of patience, he hated hearing her talk that way about Hermione.****"All right, fine. I'm going to go get a drink, I'll be back in a second if I don't contract some disgusting Muggle disease and die. So you'd better be in a better mood when I get back." She did as she said she would, walking away to find something to drink.****Draco waited on the swing, knowing the only way that he would feel better is if Hermione would hurry and get there.**

Hermione was walking to the park after her parents dropped her off. She was thinking about what that stupid Pansy was going to tell Draco now.

_'Hmmf, probably some other lies about her. She didn't know why Pansy didn't like her. Since the first time they met she looked at me as if I was beneath her and that I was not worth her time. I was mad that day because of her. But after that I learned how to control my anger and how to retaliate if she was insulting me, even though I never did tell her off.'__'I guess I thought that Draco may think less of me. Draco had apologized about the way Pansy treated her, and told her to ignore Pansy when she was being mean (which was almost every time the saw each other). Maybe she likes him, I hope not because I think I might have a crush of him. He is cute and intelligent just like me, unlike Pansy at all. All she does is giggle all the time a cling to Draco. That horrible wench! I swear if she insults me one more time I'm going to burst!'_

When Hermione was getting close to the playground where she and Draco always met she saw Draco sitting of the swing and Pansy walking away.

_'I hope she stays away, not likely.'_

"Hey Draco, how are you doing?" she said happily, she gave Draco a short hug.

**Draco hugged her back, smiling. "Hello. I've just been warned by Pansy not to get my hopes up for our young whirlwind romance I've been apparently planning since I was six because you've got your eye on another Mu- boy." He chuckled, hoping she hadn't heard his slip, his voice sounding sarcastic and teasing. "Don't worry; you haven't broken my heart too badly." He breathed an overdramatic sigh, looking heavenward. "I will find a way to survive without you."**

She swatted his arm playfully while laughing, ignoring what he was about to say but changed his mind. "What 'whirlwind romance'? Oh yeah! I remember now! That guy from our etiquette class. He is sort of cute if you think about it." _She thought 'hey might as well have fun with it even though she knew that that wench Parkinson was the one to put that idea in his head, even though it wasn't true. The truth was that she thought Draco was the one that was cute.'_

"I think he's supposed to meet us here. And yes I know that I didn't break your heart too badly and that you can't survive without me." She said smugly while looking for his reaction. She hoped that he would be slightly jealous, since she was sort of jealous that Parkinson was always trying to cling to him. _'Pug-faced wench.'_

**Draco raised a pale brow. "Cute, hm? I'm sure he's lovely, tall dark and handsome, no?" He teased. He was sure she wasn't telling the truth, after all, she didn't seem to like Pansy much. Come to think of it, he didn't like Pansy much, either. She was a bit on the bossy side and much too touchy for him, as he had never been a physically coddled child.****As if summoned by his bad thoughts about her, there she was, leaping at him and squeezing tightly. "Draco, how have you been while I was gone?" She asked, smirking coldly. For a nine-year-old, she showed just about as little emotion as a Malfoy was taught to. Pansy glared openly at Hermione, still wrapped around Draco as if he were her property.****"I was doing fine; Hermione kept me company, and now kindly get off before I force you to." He looked slightly queasy and he was very uncomfortable with her grasp. Draco had heard just the other week from another Muggle boy at the park that some girls had 'cooties'. He was sure if any girl did, it was Pansy Parkinson, and apparently boys could contract it.****She reluctantly pulled away, standing less than a foot from where he was now starting to swing.****"What would you like to do today, Hermione?" He questioned, smirking slightly. He wished he could smile, but he was afraid Pansy would tell his dad, which could mean nothing good. **Hermione glared back at Pansy before answering Draco with a smile, "Well to answer your first question he may or may not be, and second I don't know. Why don't you pick?" She was glad that he told Parkinson to get off him. _Couldn't she stay away for ever, God was she always interrupting us._

**"I think we should--" Draco began, looking thoughtful.****"Play Muggle-seek!" Pansy said playfully, bobbing her pigtailed head from side to side for the effect.****"Um, no." Draco replied to Pansy's petname of their 'Hide-and-go-seek'. "I think we shoul-" He started again.****"Play rosie-round!"****"No, Parkinso--"****"Run from the disgusting freak?" she looked pointedly at Hermione after this.****"SHUT UP!!" Draco finally demanded.****Pansy looked taken aback but not honestly surprised. "Well, no need to have bad manners. Perhaps a nice, quiet time of combing through that ugly mess you may call hair and trying to find out what it looks like straight?"****"STOP TALKING TO HER LIKE THAT!" His cheeks were stained a faint pink.****"Really, I'd like to know what the beaver-tooth thinks!"****"LEAVE NOW!"****Draco's tutor came over, astonished by his lack of control. "Mr. Malfoy, this is not acceptable in public or anywhere else--"****"Take her away. Now. Don't ask questions or you'll be sacked."****She seemed quite unhappy, before saying, "We'll be just over here, Mr. Malfoy." and taking Pansy by the hand, leading her to a nearby bench. **Hermione was beyond pissed right now, she could be called enraged. Her face was red as a tomato and her fists were clenched at her sides. She couldn't take it anymore she had to give Pansy a piece of her mind.

She glared daggers at Parkinson and yelled, " You horrible unbelievable pug-faced wench! You are the ugliest person in the world. How you could be Draco's friend is beyond me, but don't you EVER insult me again or you WILL regret it. GOT it!!"

When she finished she was breathing heavy, she immediately regretted it because Draco's tutor was there. Even though she did not see her she was afraid of getting in trouble. She hoped Draco would not be mad at her for saying that.

**Draco smirked very softly, he was not happy. He didn't want Hermione to be unhappy with Pansy, though he completely understood why she was. Pansy was an almost-intolerable bitch, but she was his friend. She was the only one who could really understand his life. Hermione knew him, but she was a Muggle and there were things she could never truly comprehend . . . things he worried that if she did fully understand them, she wouldn't be so keen on their friendship anymore.****"I know she's horrible." He said in an almost amiable tone. "But please, let her be. My tutor will deal properly with her and I'm certain she'll get worse than she deserves when she gets home because of me already." Draco was sure from the strange bruises that appeared on Pansy, though they were covered in glamour or clothing, were from her parents, not the falls she told were responsible. Whatever else she was, she was a true Pureblood in her carriage of herself and therefore would not be so ungraceful as to fall.****"She didn't mean it, she's simply jealous of a bond between us she cannot understand." A small, pale hand reached slightly toward Hermione, a silent, hopeful plea for her forgiveness and continued friendship. **She huffed, but understood where Draco was coming from. She took his hand and said "I'm so sorry for yelling at her." When she was done saying that she looked at the floor ashamed at how she acted.

But she immediately she thought about what Draco told her abut Pansy, where Pansy's parents abusing her? Even though I can't stand her I hope she isn't being hit. When she looked at Draco's pleading eyes she softened instantly, as if he knew how to calm her.

"Um..Draco..may I ask you a question?" Hermione asked.

**"Anything." Draco told her honestly. Surely, she could ask, and there was almost nothing he wouldn't answer truthfully to. He trusted her.**

"Er...Draco..what does Muggle mean? I heard Pansy say it a lot but only toward me. Is that supposed to be an insult toward me?" asked Hermione, her curiosity getting the better of her. She really wanted to know since it was mentioned often but she didn't know the meaning of it. She looked at him with pure curiosity in her eyes.

"Ummm . .." Never mind with the honesty, he had to lie, and lie fast. "Our families don't appreciate the normal terms of insulting, so they sort of let her make up a word that means bad things. I guess she's just decided to call you it, I'm not really sure what it means." He thought the lie seemed plausible, but mainly because he knew that Pansy's family and his own were rather strange compared to Hermione's, so she may believe it. He also was quite good at lying, but he hated to lie to her . . .

**He hoped sincerely she'd just allow him to get away with this untruth, because he didn't want her to hate him for being what he was and he had been taught since he could talk that it was wrong to tell a Muggle about the magical world, it was unsafe.**

"Really what parent would do that? Oh well, thank you for telling me." She smiled weakly knowing full well that he was not telling her the full truth or the truth period. She read his eyes and body language which totally gave him away, she was hurt by his inability to tell her.

_I guess the dream I had three years ago came true. I hope it does not happen again._

_Oh well I just hope that he could someday in the future tell her the truth, but for now she let him by. _

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

**"Swing with me?" He asked innocently, tilting his head to the side and giving her his best puppy eyes.** He looked so cute with his puppy eyes, it made her feel as if nothing in the world mattered. So she felt a little more comfortable asking him a question that she has been dying to ask him.

"Can I tell you something personal and know that you will never tell a soul? I trust you, it's just I still want to know that I have your word that you will not tell anyone." she asked.

**Draco nodded solemnly. He was so happy to hear that she could trust him with something like this, it made him feel very guilty he was hiding anything from her. "Yes, of course, 'Mione. I promise, I won't ever tell anyone." **"Okay. Well before I tell you I want to warn you that you may think it may be odd so please don't judge me for it." She was having a hard time telling him her secret because she felt weak for having to confide in someone when you should be able to handle your own problems. So she decided to tell him while looking at her hands.

"A few years ago while I was reading in my room I was angry at the books ending, and I know how silly that sound but what happened afterward scared me. I remember after I threw the book on the floor it caught on fire out of nowhere. I was freaking out badly because I didn't know what was going on and how that happened. So after I put out the small fire I was happy that nothing was damaged, except the book's cover. Since then I have been trying to figure out what happened but nothing comes to mind. I thought telling you that maybe you can tell me that I was imagining things, but I don't think I imagined it is the problem. What do you think?"

For the first time after finishing her story she looked up at him scared that he might reject her for having some mental problem. She hoped that this wouldn't ruin our friendship. She wanted to cry because she couldn't deal with the thought of them not being friends, but she sucked it all up and waited patiently for his answer.

**"I--" This meant so much. Not a Muggle, but worse . . . she was a Mudblood! This meant so many things. She could understand his magic, but could endanger his world. This was worse than a Muggle, because she could **_**know**_** . . . it wasn't just racism that kept his family from liking Muggles and Muggleborns, his family would never forget the times when Muggles found out about their existence, the people who died . . . every Mudblood that their was threatened the exposure of their kind again.****"Are you . . . sure?" He questioned, looking stunned. **She looked at him scared. _Oh no he's going to leave me. _She started to tear up, which was not common for her. She was always strong no matter what, but losing a great friendship is disastrous for her.

Even though she did not want to answer him but she did anyway. "Yes." she muttered barely audible.

**He let his feet hit the ground, barely able to stop himself from pacing. A hand ran through his impeccable hair, throwing it into disarray. "I-- oh. I--" Draco couldn't seem to complete his sentence. He took three steps and sat down suddenly, leaning back against the pole that was part of the swing set. "Hermione. I've got something to say, and I really, really don't want you to hate me for it." He bit his lightly pink bottom lip, pulling his knees to his chest and staring at them. "Please, say you won't hate me, and I'll tell you . . . tell you everything I couldn't before." **Hermione started to worry when she saw Draco start to pace back and forth, and the inability to complete sentences that definitely scared him. He must be really worried.

"Draco I will never hate you no matter what you say." she said soothingly, trying to calm him and herself.

**Draco glanced over to see Pansy, her eyes red and puffy, and his tutor frowning at her, probably having told the girl her parents would be contacted. He would make sure that would happen, if only to make up for the fact that he felt he was betraying her by telling Hermione what he was about to tell her. "You're a witch, I'm a wizard. We'll both go to school and learn magic in a few years. A Muggle is a person who has no magic, it's not really an insult. Pansy and I are Purebloods, meaning our lineage is only wizards and witches as far back as we can trace it. If my parents knew I was around you, I'd be locked in my room for a year, because they don't like Muggles or people that come from Muggle families. Muggles used to kill Wizards and Witches, because they don't understand. They envy us." He didn't look up at her once. He was very afraid of her reaction.****"Your life will be different when you go to school, and you may think it's bad that I hate everyone else like you, but I don't hate you, I promise. You've been my friend for years, and I'd trust you with everything, but I was really afraid . . . that you wouldn't understand, or I don't know. That you'd think I was a freak. I'm so sorry for not trusting you." Finally he met her eyes, feeling close to tears. **Gasps. "What! Omg! I'm a witch. What are my parents going to think, they are going to hate me." Hermione started crying, she looked at Draco with pleading eyes. "Please tell me your joking. Please. My parents are going to hate me forever." She said this through tears. She looked at Draco and said, "Draco, I don't think you are a freak, and I forgive you for not telling me. But what am I supposed to do now, what are _we_ supposed to do now?"

She started sobbing even harder at the thought of losing her parents, she couldn't handle all this. It was all to much to think about. At least I finally know why Draco was always a bit secretive with me. She scowled mentally at herself for misjudging him earlier and not trying to understand him better. _What am I going to tell mommy and daddy now?_

**"I'm sure your parents will be fine." He said, trying to reassure her. He'd met her parents, they were very nice people, and he was certain that they would not be upset with their daughter being a witch. "And I don't see how this will make things any different with you and I." Really, that was a lie, but he might as well not get her any more worried than she already was. **Hermione calmed down a bit, it was true that her parents were nice an lovable people. She just worried about what they might think of her. "You are right. I shouldn't be getting hysterical over this. They are going to accept me for who I am." She said mostly to herself. "It's sort of funny how they have always said that I'm special, well they were right about it. At least it doesn't change our friendship." She smiled weakly at that. "But hopefully it would stay that way in school too."

**School. He hadn't thought of that. "Well . . . yeah, of course it will! Nothing could stop us from being friends." Even though there was no way he could act like her friend in Hogwarts. Pansy would keep his secret, because he kept hers, but Greg and Vince? Theo? Blaise? No, they would tell his parents. His mum would cry and say he was a disgrace, tell him to stop and ask what she'd done to make him do this to her. His dad would leave him in his room to think about what he'd done and lecture him until he felt lower than the scum that coated the grime of a particle of mold. **She knew that he was lying, but she didn't know why. Probably to make her feel better, it was sweet of him nut she preferred the truth. She could tell he was lying because his eyes revealed everything. "Good. Well my parents are here so I have to go now. But if they asked why I was crying tell them I was telling you about a sad story I read, and that you couldn't remember the name. I think I will tell my parents when I'm ready. Thank you for telling me the things you said. See you tomorrow." she said, then hugged Draco good bye and started walking toward her parents.  
_I have a lot to think about tonight._**"Bye." He said blankly, allowing her to go. He didn't know what to think about, but that didn't matter. He knew that he had a lot to think about that night, no matter if he could understand what it was or not at that moment. Pansy came back, apologizing, and he promised he wouldn't tell her parents if she didn't tell his. **When Hermione got to her mom's car she gave her mom a kiss on the cheek and smiled as best she could so her mom would not get too suspicious. Jane was looking at her daughter with worried eyes. "Honey, what's wrong?" said Jane.

"Nothing. I was telling Draco about the book I read a few weeks ago, and I started crying because of the sad ending." Hermione replied. _I hope she doesn't ask anymore questions because then she will definitely know that something is wrong._

"Oh alright sweet heart." Jane said, she was not completely sure about her answer but she decided it was best to leave it alone this time.

When they got home Hermione immediately told her mom that she was going to take a quick shower before eating dinner and her mom said to hurry up because her father was almost done with dinner.

Hermione got her shorts, tank top, and towel and went to take a shower. When she was done she felt a little happier, the shower had taken always some of her problems. _I knew there was a reason why hot showers help you. When she was done she went down stairs to join her parent at dinner._**  
****Pansy came home with Draco, but she wasn't much help. He decided to gage her reaction and tell her what had happened. After dragging her up to a spare room (no one was aloud in his room but him, both his rule and a family one) he stopped and just gave her a long look. When she finally got so uncomfortable she asked him why he was looking at her, he sighed.****"She's a mudblood."****"She's a Muggle, idiot." Pansy said, rolling her eyes. "And I already knew that. I've been telling you for years."****"No, she's a Mudblood. She told me she has magic." He revealed.****Pansy looked like someone had punched her in the gut. "Wh-what? No, that can't be. What's the chance of you befriending a single Muggle, talking to only that one, and then her turning out to be a . . . be a . . . Merlin, that's disgusting."****"Don't say that!"****"No, it is. What if your parents find out? What if mine do? Draco . . ." Her anger and disgust washed away as she slid down the wall, sitting and hugging her knees. She stared up at him with big blue eyes. "Draco, I'm scared."****The boy nodded. He understood this, at least. He understood all of it, if he was honest with himself. "It will be fine. I'll just have to figure out what to do."****"You have to stop going around her. If you don't see her any more, than no one will find out. Then we won't get in trouble."****"I can't. She's my friend."****"So am I. So are all the other real Wizards and Witches. Maybe she'll forget about this magic and everything will go back how it should. Every one of them makes us less safe, they could find us . . . kill us . . ." She shivered. Muggle children were told of the evil witch who ate children, pureblood children were told of the evil Muggles who burned Wizards.****"I'm telling you, it will be fine."**"Hey daddy!" Hermione said while running to her father. She jumped on him giving him one of her bear hugs. Her father hugged her and spinned her around a few times. When her father put her down she did the same for her mom. "I love you guy's soo much!" Hermione yelled laughing at their confused faces.

"Wow Hermione I didn't know you missed us that much. Maybe we should take you to school everyday and pick you up late." John said teasingly.

"Oh daddy!." She playfully punched his arm. "So what are we going to eat today?"

"Well I made spaghetti and meatballs, and your mother made some sugar free chocolate cake." said John.

"Yay! I love chocolate cake and spaghetti with meatballs. Thank you for making it." she said looking at her mom and dad.

"Your welcome, sweet heart." said John.

"Your welcome honey, don't get used to it Hermione because you know that your teeth are the more important to us and not the cake, okay." said Jane.

"Okay mommy." Hermione said smiling.

"How was school today, Hermione?" John asked.

"It was good." she replied with a small smile. She felt a little sad thinking about what happened earlier, but she didn't show it. _How could I ever think that they will hate, they will support me all the way._ Hermione talked with her parents until they finished eating. When she helped her parent clean up the kitchen she went to the bathroom brushed her teeth good and then went to her room to think about the day she had.  
_I'm a witch. No wonder I did things that I couldn't explain. At least he knows how I feel, I just feel a little overwhelmed about this new discovery. What did he say was the name of that school? Oh yeah! Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That sounds a little scary, but I can't wait to go and learn more. I hope that I can make new friends just like Draco. __Hmm. Draco also mentioned something about purebloods and muggles. Whatever those mean it may not be good. Uhhg! I'm so frustrated, I have so many questions but little answers. Well I guess tomorrow I'll ask Draco about the magical world, but for now I'll just go to sleep. _

Yawn. "I'm tired." Hermione said out loud. _I wonder what time is it. Hermione looked at the clock beside her bed._ "Ten o'clock! Oh no! Let me get some sleep before I look like a zombie tomorrow." Hermione said to herself.

Hermione fell asleep fast that night dreaming about the magical world.

**Sleep came quickly with few dreams, and even those were only the usual of swinging back and forth. The swing seemed to be rocking between his parents with Pansy and Hermione. None of them smiled, which was strange. Hermione was almost always smiling.****Back and forth it went. Each time it went back to his father, the older man would hiss to him how no one would ever respect him if he didn't knock off that swinging, his mother then whispered something about being good because father was watching, and Pansy cruelly laughed. Each time he went forward to Hermione, she was crying, telling him that it was all his fault she was what she was, that she hated him.****Then the dream switched. Pansy smiled and leaned in, telling him that things were better at home and she was really glad she could talk to him about these things. His mother kissed him on the forehead, bringing him in for a gentle hug. His father smiled approvingly "Good job, Son. You will be perfect for the position, I'm proud of you". And Hermione was simply beaming "Draco, I've got an 'O' on all my exams! An 'O'! Mum and Dad will be so happy!"****Draco woke sincerely hoping that the latter would have more to do with the future, but doubted it just as wholly. **The sun was shining brightly across Hermione's face. When she woke up a few seconds later she looked at the clock. It said 6:30 am. Time to get ready for school. She went to the window and saw that today was going to be a beautiful day, she just hoped that it would also be beautiful throughout the day.

_Hmm..I wonder how could I ask Draco about the magical world without having interruptions because of Pansy. Oh well, I'll still ask him all the questions that pop up in my head. I wonder if the magical world would be better than the one she is currently in. Not that she didn't like her life, it was just that she wanted to have a fresh start at being able to fit in with people her age._

Hermione took a quick shower and went down for breakfast.

"Morning mom, dad." Hermione said and kissed her mom and dad on the cheek.

"Morning hun." said Jane.

"Good morning." John said.

Hermione and her parents ate breakfast and then left the house. When Hermione was dropped off she went to her classes. She couldn't wait to see Draco to apologize for acting the way she did and also to ask him about the magical world.

During lunch Hermione went outside and started looking for Draco, but there were a lot of people around playing together.

**Draco was not on the swings, but on the slide. Some stupid Muggle children were on the swings, which put his mood off immediately. He was also worried.****What if Hermione had told her parents and now they were going to get him? What of his family? What of school?****He decided to stop worrying until she actually arrived. **  
Finally Hermione spotted him on the slides. She started walking towards him with a shy smile since she didn't know how she was supposed to act now. She decided to just go to him and say hi and then start a conversation.

When she was a few feet from the slides she said hi to Draco. Hopefully he would talk to her and not walk away from her.

**"Hey." He said back, surveying her in a curious way. He wondered what she had told them, her parents. What she had thought of, what she now believed of him. **"I was wondering if you wanted to talk. About you know what?" she said. _There was no point in beating around the bush, _she thought.

**He was surprised by her blunt questioning, but tried not to show it. "Well, the school is Hogwarts, there are four houses. Slytherin for the ambitious, Ravenclaw for the wise, Gryffindor for the brave and . . ." He thought back, he'd never heard much about the other three houses, only recently reading of them in books. "Hufflepuff, for the just.****"There are a bunch of different classes taught by professors. Like . . . Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Divinations, Arithmancy, Astronomy and Herbology. Any specific questions?" **Hermione's head was spinning with so many unasked questions. "Well, who founded the school, when was it built, and what was the purpose of it being built?" she asked.

**"The founders were the starters of each house, they were all friends. Salazar Slytherin, Godric Gryffindor, something Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. They all wanted the things for the house that the houses now look for. It was built quite a long time ago, I don't know when, only that my mum's family has been going there for generations. It was started to be a school of magic." He recited as much as he knew. **Hermione was really interested in learning more because she liked what she was hearing so far. She was looking at him with interest written all over her face, but she decided to tell him not to worry about her telling their secret.

"Draco." she said softly. "If you were worrying about me telling our secret you don't have to be, 'cause I didn't tell them and I don't plan to tell them anytime soon or ever."

She told him because she could read him like a book sometimes and he had worried in his eyes even though he was trying to cover it. She looked at him awaiting his reaction with mild interest and worry.

**Relief flooded through Draco, he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. He knew she'd have to tell her parents at least, but he really didn't want anyone to know about the Wizarding world. He had been taught to fear these breeches to safety, learned of the many ancestors he alone had that had died from muggle attacks during their sleep, had their wands taken and were burned alive. Muggles were fearsome creatures when they were afraid, and Draco didn't want to have any part in frightening them.****Instead of saying this to Hermione, as he didn't want her to take offense, he merely nodded. **  
So they continued on talking about magic and anything imaginable. Without them really realizing it they had just grown much more closer in their friendship.

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**AN: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**


	3. True Friendship

**AN: Sorry for updated so late, I have been swamped with schoolwork. But I should be able to update faster, if mike and I can we will. :) I'd like to thank wasu. Remember bold is mike, regular font is me. :) So without further ado, here is chapter 3. Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine, and if mike decides to add more characters then those original characters are hers.**

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It was Saturday morning when Hermione awoke to the sound of people talking. So she snuck down the stairs as softly as she could. When she got to the bottom of the stairs she peeked around the wall and saw her parents talking to a very tall man wearing black robes with a long white beard and half moon spectacles covering his twinkling blue eyes.

Hermione was curious to see this man, since she has never seen him in her life. She heard parts of their conversations.

"Hermione is a special girl and I will make sure she gets a good education and safety at Hogwarts." said the man.

Hermione's mind started reeling. _Omg! This man knows about Hogwarts! Is he here to take me there and teach me magic? Oh! My parents must be scared because I haven't told them about being a witch. She forgot that Draco told her that once she was eleven that she was going to receive her acceptance letter. _

"Are you sure? This is our one and only daughter and we love her dearly." said John who was still skeptical about his daughter being a witch but he and his wife could see how this fits in perfectly.

_Hermione's sudden mood changes and things exploding randomly. At first he was scared thinking that she was possessed but when he thought about it, it didn't fit in. But what this man Albus was telling them was making them feel happy because their Hermione is a special child, well more of a special child than she already was. _John's thought were racing through the past, and what was happening then.  
_Flashback__There was a knock on the front door. John went to see who was there and was surprised to see this man standing in front of him. __"Hi. How may I help you?" said John. __"Hello, my name is Albus Dumbledore. I am here to talk to you about your daughter Hermione." the man said. __"What about?" Jane asked from behind John. __"I would prefer to tell you in private please. Because this may take long to tell." the man said smiling. __"Sure come in. Would you like something to drink?" Jane said. __"Oh, no thank you." Albus said. "As you may be wondering why I am I here, I would like to tell you not to worry it's nothing bad." Jane and John relaxed a bit after hearing him say that. __"Has your daughter Hermione had moments that when she was mad something exploded?" Albus said looking at both parents.__Jane said, "Yes, a good few times. Why do you ask?" __"Well, it means that indeed Hermione is a special little girl." Albs said with twinkling eyes. __"How special?" said John. __"It means that she's a witch." Albs stated.__"What!" said Jane confused. __"Well, it does explain why all these things are happening." John said mostly to himself. __"I am here to tell you that she has been accepted to Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am the Headmaster. Here is her letter which also includes her school supplies and were to find them. Do you have any questions for me?" Albus said. __"How long will she be away?" John said. __"School starts September first and finishes at the end of June. About a year, but she is allowed to visit for Christmas." said Albus. __"Does the letter tell us where to go to buy her books?" Jane said. __"Yes." Albus stated. __"Then that answers our questions." said John smiling. __End Flashback_

"Well why don't we tell Hermione, since she already heard part of our conversation." the older man said kindly.

Hermione was shocked to hear that the man knew she was listening. She slowly walked to her parents. They were smiling at her. Her mother and father were smiling at her.

"What is going on?" she asked her parents.

"Well honey, Albs here was telling us about the school you will be attending called Hogwarts." Jane said.

"Sweetheart you are a witch." John told her.

Hermione started smiling because this meant that her parents were cool with it. _I should have told them earlier if I knew it was going to end this way. _

"Really?" Hermione said smiling.

"Yes dear." the man named Albus said.

"I can't wait to start school!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Good, but sadly I must be on my way. It was nice to meet you all. See you September first. Oh! Before I forget here is your letter." Albus said while he gave Hermione her letter.

After Albus left Hermione and her parents read the letter. She couldn't wait to go to Diagon Alley to get her school supplies.

_I can't wait to tell Draco about this, _Hermione thought.

**The playground, probably for the last time.****Hermione hadn't told him about receiving a letter and school wasn't long away at all. What if it didn't work out? Draco had gotten his letter two weeks before, but, not wanting to upset Hermione, he had not informed her of this. What if, though she had magic, she was not powerful enough to actually be a witch?****Well, it would get rid of some lurking problems . . . like how he was supposed to tell Hermione they couldn't be friends in Hogwarts.**

Hermione had asked her parents if they could take her to the park. While they were driving to the park they were having a great time. And also warning her not to tell anybody, because that can be dangerous. She told them she wouldn't.

When her parents dropped her off at the park they told her that they were going to be back in a half an hour to pick her up to celebrate.

Hermione was looking for Draco to tell her the exciting news. She was literally jumping up and down with glee.

"Guess what Draco?!" Hermione nearly screamed.

She spotted him by the playground and she ran up to him and hugged him. She blushed slightly, she had developed a slight crush on him. She hoped that he didn't notice it. She eventually let him go because she was afraid that her famous bear hug could have killed him if she didn't.

**Suddenly something warm and soft met his side. He had been drifting in his mind, causing him to be oblivious to her shriek, but nothing could keep him from noticing her presence. The tips of his ears turned a bright pink and he saw a faint blush hit her cheeks as well.****"Hello." He said quietly, smirking. "How has your day been?" **"OMG! Draco I have soo much to tell you!" Hermione said happily. "I got my acceptance letter this morning! The Headmaster came and explained everything to my parents. And they are cool with it. I thought that they were going to be mad and disbelieving, but they were the opposite. They were smiling and hugging me. Since I only have a week left until school starts tomorrow we are going to go to Diagon alley to but my school supplies." When she finished she was a little out of breath.

Well who could blame her she was really happy.

**"Oh." Draco said, wondering what else there was to say. He should be ecstatic. She was a witch, she really was. She was coming to school with him. She was his best friend. Why wasn't he happy? Oh, yes. Because now he had to explain something else. He didn't want to, so he tried to draw out the moment, savoring their closeness.** She noticed that he was holding something in. "Aren't you happy we get to go to school together?" She looked at him innocently.

**"Yes." He answered. "But . . . I just don't know how it will be at school." He began.**

"What do you mean? As long as we are friends school should be okay. Right?" she said questioningly.

**"That's the thing. Its okay now, just you and me. Pansy can know, because no matter what you think of her she wouldn't tell. She's a good friend." Draco sighed. "But everyone else in my house . . . if they knew I was friends with a Mudblo- Muggleborn, they'd tell my parents."**  
"Huh? Are you afraid that your parents will not like the idea of us being friends? And what does being muggleborn have to do with anything?" Hermione said confused.

**"My family are purebloods." He attempted to explain. "We have only wizard blood as far back as we can trace it, and we're proud of it. My mum's family's motto is 'Always Pure'. Muggleborns are people who have no connection to our world, but force themselves into it. They don't belong, according to mum and dad. If dad knew I was around you, I'd be locked in my room for weeks. Mum would just cry."**

She was taken back by what he said. Her face probably had a look of shock, sadness, and anger. "Why would someone do that to their own child?" she asked but she already had an answer. By what he was saying, his parents are not nice so they probably would do something like that. There were too many emotions running through her head to think. She needed some time to sort them out but for now she was going to be with Draco just in case it was true what he was saying about his parents.

_No wonder I never met his parents. I never really thought about it._

**"It's something that has to be done. Every mud- Muggleborn that's born is another contamination of the pure wizard blood. Every Muggleborn is another leak out to the Muggles that we exist. We could die." he told her, forgetting for a second he was talking to her, a Muggleborn. He'd never had this conversation with someone that couldn't respect purity. "Purebloods are the highest of wizards, and mum and dad know they deserve to be. It's hard to keep yourself to the standard, and lowering myself like this, dad would be very angry." **She was starting to get angry at the way he was saying those words. He sounded like he was regretting being her friend. She felt like crying but she held it in because she knew that she would lose her cool and do something she would regret. But it was getting increasingly harder not to.

"So what are you going to do about it?" she said hurt and angry. She didn't mean for it to sound harsh but what was done was done.

**He remembered where he was, who he was talking to, that this was Hermione, his best friend. "We're going to hide." He said, laughing momentarily at the idea of hiding from Lucius Malfoy. "But let's not think of that now. We've only got a few days until school."**  
She calmed down a bit when he said that but she was still mad. _Maybe he forgot who he was talking to and didn't mean to say that. I hope so. _

"Yeah. I can't wait to go and meet new people and learn new things. You?" she said with smiled slightly.

**"Well, I know most of the people who will be in my house. I don't know if I'll like the others. I would like to see all of my acquaintances again, I guess." He smiled. "But the only company I really need I've had all summer."**

She blushed slightly at his comment. She knew he was trying to make her happy so she wouldn't feel bad about anything else.

"Really you know what house you are going to be in? Which one?" she looked at him waiting for his response.

**"Slytherin. My whole family is, I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't." He admitted. "But I know I will be, I don't fit anywhere else."**

"Draco. You know that you will fit in, in whatever house they put you in. Since you have all the qualities for it. You just show more interest in Slytherin." she said smiling knowingly.

**He made a pouting face. "I'm insulted." He stated, trying his best to look it. "I'm a perfect Slytherin! Cunning, sly, sneaky, ambitious, and sometimes underhanded! I'm not loyal or just or brilliant or . . . brave." Draco spat the last word as if it were a damnable sin.****"You, on the other hand, could be in Hufflepuff. Or Ravenclaw. Or . . ." He appeared to be pained by saying it. "**_**Gryffindor**_**."** She giggled at him knowing that all the things he said were true. "Yes you are don't deny it. " she said trying to look serious when she wanted to laugh her but off at how he was acting.

"Well if you think I belong in one of those houses, then which one in particular?" she said haughtily.

**"Ravenclaw, I think." Draco answered honestly. "You're too intelligent for any of the other houses."** Really that's interesting." she said with twinkling eyes. "What would you say if I was sorted into Slytherin or Gryffindor?" She looked at him with mischievous eyes. She was planning to trick him into saying that would hope that they would be sorted into the same house, because she could tell that he was hiding feelings but she didn't know if it was toward Pansy or her.

But she was going to run giggling around the park after he said that he would like to be sorted into the same house. She didn't know why but she felt like running and laughing. Well even if he didn't admit it she was still going to run and laugh for a while.

**"I'll be upset if you get sorted into either, I guess." He said, thinking deeply. "Because I think you deserve more than Slytherin can give, or different, and I really don't like Gryffindor."** She was smiling for no apparent reason. "Really. Well guess we'll see when we get sorted." Hermione said. After she said that she started running, she liked the feel of the wind on her face. She was giggling while running.

**Draco stared after his friend for a moment before feeling his lips slowly spread into a smile. He chased after Hermione, and he was very quick, coming up even with her in a matter of seconds. "Why are we running?" He asked, not sounding the least bit winded.**

She looked at him and replied, "I don't know I just felt like running." She stopped and sat in front of the tree where they first met.

**"I will miss this." Draco admitted. "The quiet and getting to be alone with you before you get other stupid friends from other stupid houses."**  
"Is that jealousy I sense from you Draco?" she said trying to hide her laughter.

**"I'm not jealous." He lied pettily. "Why would I be jealous? No reason behind that accusation." He stated, then smiled. "Maybe I am." **"Why? If you don't mind answering." she looked at him curiously, always the know-it-all. Inwardly she was smiling.

**"We aren't going to talk about it, because it will make you upset again." He whispered, as if it were some important secret. Then leaned back against the rough tree bark, resting his head.**

"Okay." she said. _I hope I didn't upset him,_ she thought.

**Draco felt the fog that came to one's mind right before a much-needed sleep invade his head. Sighing, he shifted slightly to try and rid himself of it, but to no avail. "What do you want to do, Hermione? Our last day, what do you want most?"**  
She could tell that he was sleepy. What she really wanted to do was to sit there with him forever, but she knew that it was impossible. "Well since you are about to fall asleep, we should do something active." she replied.

**"Is that what you want?" He asked seriously, silver-blue eyes seeming to delve into her soul when they met hers.**  
"Yeah. What do you plan to do?" she said hoping that her honey-brown eyes weren't betraying her. She couldn't look away from his gorgeous eyes. _Hermione stop thinking about him like that he's your best friend,_ she thought.

**He reached over slowly, his hand pausing hesitantly when it was a few inches from her shoulder. It drifted downward, finally landing just at her shoulder while he shifted. He whispered gently. "Tag." Then sprung up and ran away.**  
"HEY! You tricked me!" she scream at him. She got up and started chasing him. She couldn't help but laugh at how much fun she was having. "I'm going to get you! You know that, right?!" she yelled at him.

**"Not a chance." He replied, keeping well ahead of her without an effort. "What did you think I was going to do, Hermione? Surely if you were tricked you believed me to be about to do another thing, rather than play an invigorating game of tag." He stated innocently.**  
"Haha. Cheeky aren't we. And yes I thought that you were going to fall asleep or something. Oh! I'm so going to get you!" she said. _Oh God. Don't let him know that I have a crush on him. _She was starting to gain on him, but she though of a better idea to get him. She smiled evilly. Hermione suddenly faked a fall. "OWWW! My knee!" she faked crying. She was really good at faking things. She started sobbing while holding her knee.

**Draco loped easily, randomly bursting forward quickly and hearing her voice nearer than it was even with his ears full of wind. Let her think she was getting closer, but if she seriously came near beating him he knew full well she had no chance of catching him. He was just faster, besides that he had been practicing sports since he was a child, making him agile and giving him good endurance. He doubted Hermione did much but read her books when she wasn't around him.** Hermione was a natural learner and runner. Her father ran a lot when he was younger so she inherited it from him.

"OWW! How could I be so stupid to run with flip flops!" she cried. _Why isn't he coming to check on me? That's weird._

**With the wind roaring past, Draco scarcely heard Hermione's voice, much less what she said. So on he continued like a wolf, rushing to a large field adjacent to the park.**  
Hermione didn't notice the wind pick up until now. She stopped crying because she noticed that Draco was not coming. She was starting to get scared since he was further that she thought. She didn't know where he went. _So she decided to walk towards him, or where she thought he was. Why is everything getting so dark and cold? I hope the wind stops so I can find Draco. Oh I don't like this at all. _  
**Draco felt very strange all of the sudden. Cold. Almost hopeless. He spun around to see Hermione walking, looking a bit lost. He rushed to her side, grabbed her hand, and pulled her over toward his tutor. "You don't look well." He stated, not caring this may mean he lost.**

She was happy when she saw him coming. "No. I feel really tired and scared." she told him not looking directly at his eyes.

**"We're leaving." He told her before repeating this to his tutor.****"Not with her." His tutor refused, smiling.****"We'll bring her home."****"We don't have that kind of transport."****"Hermione, how far away is your house?" Draco questioned.**

"Not far, just a few miles away." she replied.

**"Go get the car, now." Draco ordered. They hadn't brought it, but in saying this he gave his tutor the right to call on a house-elf and have it brought there through a sort of apparition. Three minutes later, a black limo was there, his tutor in the passenger seat. Draco tugged Hermione into the car. **"Draco where are we going? I want to go home." she said scared.

**"You're going home, don't be scared. I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." He swore, very seriously, squeezing her hand in further reassurance.**  
"Why is everything cold and dark?" she looked at him. Even if she was in mortal peril she always had to know everything. That's what made her Hermione.

**"Dementors, I suspect." Draco told her. "But I'm really not sure, there's no reason they'd be out of Azkaban . . . We'll just have to wait and find out." He was worried. Not for himself, but for the small girl next to him who seemed awfully frightened. **She didn't want to look weak in front of him so she closed her eyes for a few seconds and then opened them feeling a little bit stronger, she had forced her tears away for the moment. She felt safe knowing that she was safe with Draco in the limo.

**"Where do we go from here?" The driver's voice magically carried back through the thick glass to them.****Draco looked at Hermione expectantly.**  
"12 Brooklyn Rd." she told him.

**The drive there took only a minute (in there car, everything passed momentarily. It would take about one more minute to get to his house). "I'll see you at school, Hermione."**  
She got out the car and turned, "Bye, see you at the train." She turned around and went inside her house. She told her parents that since it was getting cold Draco's tutor dropped her off.

**Draco road in silence, the cold slowly leaving and the darkness fading into just night. By the time he got home he began to wonder if he hadn't imagined the feeling.**

* * *

**AN: Hey guys! Hope you liked it. So please leave a review by clicking that pretty little purple button :) The next chapter should be up in a week or so if everything goes well, if not then I'll make sure to post as soon as I can. **

**  
****Brooklynsam3 and mike. :)**


	4. Hogwarts

**AN: Hey! As I said in the chapter summary here is chapter four. :) And I'd like to thank all who have reviewed, thankz cause it encourages us to update faster. So read on! :) haha.**  
**Reminder: Bold is mike, regular is me.**

**Disclaimer: The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine, and if mike decides to add more characters then those original characters are hers.**

**"And Draco, dear, do make sure not to associate with the half-bloods, even. I don't want you becoming attached." His mother sounded like most parents would when telling their child not to name a stray animal.******

**"Please, mother, I've got to go." He told her, urging her toward the train.******

**"Narcissa, really. The boy knows what he's doing. Make us proud." The last sounded more like a threat than anything else.******

**"I'll try, father."******

**"Write me every day, Draco, or I'll never forgive you!"******

**"Don't worry, mother."******

**"Get on the train before some mudblood takes the last seat!" Lucius ordered. With that, Draco pulled his bags into the train. He pushed them at Vincent Crabbe.******

**"Find an empty compartment. Put those in it and guard them with your life. Save me a seat and only allow your dad's friends to take any seats, got it?" The other boy nodded and Draco set off to find Hermione. **

Hermione woke up excited. She couldn't wait to go to school. Hermione got dressed fast and went down to breakfast to met her parents.

"Morning." Hermione said.

"Goodmorning." her parents said.

After they finished eating breakfast they put everything Hermione needed in the trunk and set of to King's Cross.

Hermione had butterflies in her stomach. God I can't wait to learn and meet new people. They all talked about Hogwarts and how it was going to be. Hermione felt sort of sad because she was going to be away from her parent until Christmas.

They finaly got to King's Cross, and they went straight to platfrom 9 3/4. At first they were 

hesitant to pass, but after they did they saw a magnificant sight ahead of them. A beautiful red train and students saying goodbye to their parent and rushing to the train.

Hermione turned to her parents. "I'm going to miss you mom, dad." she said.

"We'll miss you too honey." said John.

"Promise you'll write." said Jane.

"Yes mom." Hermione promised.

Hermione hugged her parents and said good bye.

She started to walk towards the train when she saw Draco. So she decided to go talk to him.

**Draco spotted Hermione, gulped, and jumped into an empty compartment. After checking it out, he poked his head out, waving hurriedly for her to come in. **She hurriedly got to the compartment. When she set everything down she turned and said, "Hi Draco."

**"Hi." He said in a tight voice. "I don't have long, they'll find me soon. How was Diagon Alley?" **  
"It was fun. But who's looking for you?" she asked him with eyes filled with worry.

**"My supposed friends will be, soon. I have to hurry, I told you already we can't see each other much at school. We'll have to plan for the next meeting now." Draco looked worriedly at the door, placing a simple locking charm on it. **She was hurt by this because he was suggesting that we should be friends in private. "Why should we care about them? Were best friends we should be able to let everyone see it no matter who's blood is what." she said seething.

**"Because according to Pureblood Wizards, I'm too good to be your friend." Draco tried to make her understand. They'd been friends for so many years, but he was afraid of what would happen. "My parents would be so ashamed if they knew I was your friend! But that doesn't matter to me, I just don't want you or I to get hurt, so we have to keep it a secret!"**

"No I'm terribly sorry Draco I can not just do that. I want to show everyone that we are friends no matter prejudice. I want to be friends forever, but not in secret. That would tear me apart because you know I'm a terrible liar and eventually everyone will find out because of me." she said. She could feel the tears prickling her eyes now.

**"Oh, don't start crying!" He said, sounding irritated. He'd been lectured at for the past three hours by his father about showing weakness and Mudbloods, it was starting to brainwash him again. "Either we're friends in secret or not at all, you make the choice. I really hope you make the right one, because I'm not a forgiving person." **She looked at him with a mixture anger and sadness. _He'll never forgive me for this, but I just hope that my brain isn't wrong with this or I just lost the best thing in my life. Damn being a know-it-all!_ "I am so sorry. But we can't be friends. As you said your parents may hurt you if they found out, and I don't want to be the reason for it." she looked at him. She started crying so hard now that her vision was getting blurry. She felt like a part of her was ripped from her, and she could never gain it back.  


**"Fine." He said in a hurt voice, but only for a second. Then his eyes seemed to go dark as his face turned emotionless. "Better off without you anyway, Mudblood. I don't know who you'll find for friends, but I'm sure they'll be just as useless as your disgusting Muggle family."******

**Before she could say another thing, do anything, he swept out of the compartment and into the one he'd told Crabbe to watch. Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle were the only people present. Theodore Knot was expected soon, and that was all Draco had to look forward to. **  
Hermione started to cry harder for what felt like hours. When in fact it was only twenty minutes. Soon the train would leave for Hogwarts. But a few seconds after she thought that she saw two boy walk into the compartment she was currently in.

"Hi may I help you?" Hermione asked.

"Oh..um..do you mind if we sit here, the other compartments are full?" a boy with raven hair and green eyes asked shyly.

"No I don't mind. What's your name?" Hermione asked.

"Harry Potter and he's Ron Weasley." the boy named Harry said while pointing to his friend.

"Nice to meet you Harry, Ron." she said while sticking her hand out.

She shook both their hands then started asking them questions about themselves. She wanted to think about anything else so she could distract herself from the pain she was feeling.

**"And then Draco said that I could have his carrot to feed Equi!" Pansy said. No one was listening to her, but she chatted anyway. She was outnumbered severly in the guy/girl ratio, as Mulicent Bulstrode and the others were missing.******

**"Shut UP, Pansy." Blaise ordered, trying to get Crabbe and Goyle to fetch him some food off the trolly without eating any of it.******

**"Shut up all of you, I have a bloody headache." Draco demanded, in a foul mood. Stupid life. Stupid train. Stupid friends. Stupid Hermione. **The train started moving but nobody was paying attention.

Hermione wanted to really get to know these two boys, so she decided to play twenty questions.

"Do you guys want to play twenty questions? So we can get to know each other." she asked.

"Sure." Harry said.

"Um..what's twenty questions?" Ron looked confused.

"Sorry, it a game, all you do is ask each other questions." Hermione stated.

"Oh OK. Sure I'll play." said Ron.  


"How old are you Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I just turned 11, on July 31. You?" said Harry.

"I'm 11, but my birthday is September 19. So I'll be 12 then. How about your Ron?" she said.

"I'm 11, my birthday was March 1." he said.

"Hermione, what's your favorite sport?" Harry asked.

"Football, because I love to run." she said smiling.

"Cool. how 'bout you Ron?" Harry said.

"Quidditch. What's football?" Ron questioned.

"It's a game, you kick a ball back and forth until you get a goal which is at both ends of the field." Harry said.

Ron nodded. They all started to ask more questions, then started talking about quidditch. Hermione though was starting to get bored so she took out a book for her bag and tried to read, but thoughts of Draco kept invading her mind.

_No Hermione, don't start thinning about it because then you are going to start crying and then Harry and Ron are going to think that you are weak._ She sniffed trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Harry and Ron looked her way with concern in their eyes.

"Hermione are you okay? Why do you look like you are about to cry?" Harry said.

_Damn! Think of something quick. _"I just miss my parents already. That's all." she tried to fake a smile. But it looked as if they bought it. _Phew! Keep your emotions in check Hermione, she scolded herself for crying. _  
**Goyle was having fun sticking quills in his ears and nostrils, Crabbe counting how many he managed (feather-first). Theodore Knott was watching in fasinated disgust as Blaise and Draco stared boredly out the window and Pansy continued to prattle on about whatever it was she found important. **_**I hate my life**_** Draco decided to himself, rolling his storm-grey eyes as Blaise accidentally kicked him in the shin. **Hermione was having fun with her two new friends. Harry and Ron were fun, well Ron was a bit defensive but otherwise fun. But she still couldn't feel completely happy. _I wish it could have worked out between Draco and I. Did I do the right thing or did I mess up both our lives beyond repair? I guess I will never really know. I wish I had told him my feelings about him when we met the last time at the park then maybe we would have been friends still. _

"Hermione. Earth to Hermione!" Harry said snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"Huh? Sorry. Just dosed off there. What did you say?" she apologized, then smiled for their benefits.

"I said do you want to play exploding snaps?" said asked Ron.

Harry looked at Hermione skeptically. He wasn't sure why but he felt that Hermione wasn't being totally honest with them. _Oh well she'll tell us when she feels comfortable enough,_ he thought.

"Sorry. Maybe later, we should change into our school robes now since we are almost there I think." she said. To tell the truth she just wanted to go to the girls lavatory at the end of the train hoping to see a glance of Draco.

Hermione got up and grabbed her robes and started towards the door. "I'll be right back." she said over her shoulder.

**Draco listened as Pansy yacked on and on. "Pansy, I think it's time to change." He stood, opened his trunk, and riftled through the neatly packed stacks of clothes for his favorite black school robes. After picking them out, he turned and opened the sliding door, preparing to leave and change.******

**"What are you doing?" Pansy asked.******

**"Changing. If you stopped talking to listen once in a while, you'd know."******

**"I'm the only girl, all of you are boys."******

**"I noticed." Draco said, rolling his eyes.******

**"So I'll go change in the lav, you change here."******

**This sounded reasonable, so he pulled down Pansy's trunk for her, she got her belongings, and she left to use the lavatory to change. Draco changed in his compartment with Blaise while Crabbe and Goyle were forced to leave and change (Blaise told them he didn't want to see them clothes, much less without them). **  
When Hermione finished changing she opened the door. On her way out she saw Pansy walking to her with her robes to change in the girls lavatory, she had briefly stopped to talk to some girls Hermione didn't know. _Oh no! I don't want to see her know or ever for that matter. What am I going to do?_ Hermione couldn't decide what to do, but it was too late anyways. She and Pansy were nearly face to face. Hermione decided to put on a strong face and walk around her.

**"Oh, it's the little Mudblood!" Pansy said with a sneer. Without showing any other recognition, she grabbed tightly to Hermione's wrist and pulled her down the hall into a corridor out of other's sight.******

**Then she rounded on the girl. "What did you do? How'd you screw up, Mudblood?"**

"Screw up what? What are you talking about?" Hermione said angrily and tugged her wrist free from Pansy's grasp. Then turned around to leave.

**"I didn't think he was really going to ditch you as soon as the year came in, but maybe I was wrong. Not good enough? Trip over your tongue too much? What'd you do to piss him off, he's sitting around brooding." **Hermione was shocked by her words and felt tears coming but she quickly stomped them down. "It's none of your business." Hermione said fiercely. "And if you don't move out of my way I will make you. So 

move!"

She was ready to punch her but she thought that might not be a good idea since she wasn't in school yet and getting into trouble before school even started was worse. Because then the teachers would be disapointed in her and she didn't want that.

_I won't do anything but if she hits me it's on. I'm tired of being pushed around like a good for nothing ragdoll, I'm going to be a strong person and not let anyone hurt me in anyway,_ she thought.

**"Maybe you were just too Muddy. What a disappointment." She said this in a way that showed she really and truly believed Hermione had given up the one and only chance of a life-time, making her below the scum on the bottom of her pricey shoes. Pansy shoved past the girl, making a mental note to wash her hands as soon as possible, and slammed the lavitory door shut. **That was it. The last straw. Hermione now officially hated her beyond her life or anything important to her. She WILL reap what she sows one day. Hermione had finally gotten to her compartment and she immediately put on a smile because she did not want her new friends to worry about her.

The guys were already dressed in their school robes and were playing exploding snaps.

"Finally we were beginning to think that you drowned in the lavatory." Ron said jokingly.

"Oh Ronald, just because you dress at the speed of light does not mean others do to." she said frowning slightly. Harry noticed this and decided to change the subject just in case they would start arguing.

"Which house do you think you will be in Hermione?" Harry said immediately.

Ron looked slightly upset, and said "Sorry I was just joking."

"Sorry too. I didn't mean to bite your head off. And to answer your question Harry I think that I would be placed in Gryffindor. You?" she said.

"Well...I don't really know ...but I want to be in Gryffindor. You Ron?" Harry said thinking hard.

"Huh? Sorry I was spacing out there for a second. What'd you say?" Ron said blushing slightly.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I said what house do you think you will be in?" Harry repeated.

"Oh! Gryffindor. My whole family has been in it for ages." Ron said smiling proudly.

The train was starting to slow down and stopped a few seconds later.

**"Lets go and see where we are supposed to go." she told them.******

**They followed her out of the compartment. ******

**"Alright, everyone. Blaise, you can come with me, Pansy, if you must, but Vince, **

**Greg, you're to the outside edges and only used to batter other students away." Draco ordered, falling perfectly into his role of pureblood tyrant.******

**Blaise smirked, obviously happy to be placed in high-standing by such an arrogant boy, and actually allowed himself to be ordered about as Pansy stood just next to Draco's left and he placed himself on the Pureblood Prince's right. Just like this, they walked over to the oaf calling for first years. "Merlin, they have a giant ignoramus to get us over that lake? We'll be dead before we reach the halfway-mark." Draco stated surely.******

**His loyal followers nodded, agreeing no matter what he said. **  
Hermione, Harry and Ron all stared at the tallest man they had ever seen.

"How tall do you think he is?" said Ron in awe.

"I don't know. Really tall I guess." said Harry.

"Boys." Hermione muttered under her breath.

The tall man started walking towards them calling all first years.

"Hi. How are you?" Hermione said politely.

"Hi. I'm fine. Thank you. Are you three excited 'bout Hogwarts? Oh and my name is Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Grounds at Hogwart's. But you could call me Hagrid." said the man named Hagrid smiling.

"I'm fine thank you and my name is Hermione Granger. You could call me Hermione." she said beaming. She made another friend. She was beginning to love Hogwarts.

"And you two are?" Hagrid asked Harry and Ron.

"I'm Harry Potter. Call me Harry if you want." said Harry politely.

"H..Hi. I..I'm Ron Weasley. You could call me Ron too." Ron said a little bit scared.

"Nice to meet you all. Now get goin' to the boats, we have to be goin' now." Hagrid said with a kind smile.

**Draco selected what seemed to be the best boat, staring at it with distaste. "Blaise, get in." He ordered, making it clear that everyone else was to find their own boat.******

**"Sure." Blaise replied, allowing Draco to get in the boat before sliding in next to him, gently brushing past and settling.**Hermione got in the boat with Harry, and Ron with a new girl. When they got to the doors that lead to the great hall they were met with a woman who looks about she is in her sixties with dark hair with grey streaks held in a tight bun. She has a stern look on her face.

"Hello. I'm Professor Mcgonagall, and I am the Transfigurations teacher. Now when the doors open you will walk in and wait to be sored into your houses. Understood?" McGonagall said.

"Yes." everyone said.

**"I don't see the point in being sorted, the real witches and wizards know where they're going." Draco said with a sneer.******

**"I couldn't agree more." Blaise replied with a nod, smiling.******

**"And of course those of less than pure blood shouldn't be allowed in these halls, filth like that-" Pansy pointed to Hermione "Should just be drowned at the lake. I'm disgusted to be in the same room with her." Of course, as they were speaking in whispers, none of this was heard by McGonagall.******

**"That's the first intelligent thing you've said all day, Pansy." Draco smirked nastily. **Hermione who was talking to Harry imediately turned around when she heard Pansy talking about Mudbloods should be drowned in the lake. She almost burst into tears when she heard Draco agreeing. But she had already started training herself on controlling her emotions, so she kept the tears bottled up.

"Really Parkinson? I did not think that Hogwarts let braindead, Pug-faced, dimwits in. Oh yeah! They probably felt bad for you since no other school wanted to see your ugly face." Hermione said nastily with a look of disgust.

Harry and Ron were by her side with a look of shock on their faces when they heard pure hatred coming out of her mouth. But they recovered and glared at Pansy.

**"Because that was original, Granger." Pansy said, rolling her eyes. "Don't be upset because you were born disgusting. No matter what I look like, I'll always be better than you are, brighter than you are, and generally more talented than you are, not to mention monitarily better off." She smiled, crossing her arms over her chest.******

**"All true." Blaise agreed, placing a happy peck on Pansy's cheek.******

**Draco ignored Blaise and Pansy, smirking lightly to himself at Hermione's obvious discomfort. "You'd really think the Mudbloods would stop being so offended, or at least get better at hiding it. Their weakness is rather disturbing." He murmured to Blaise, who grinned in response. **Hermione was beyond pissed right now and the only thing that kept her from punching her was that at any moment they would be sorted. But she could help but smile evily at her. Hermione walked up to Pansy, and of course followed by Harry and Ron at her side.

"Really Pansy? Is that all you can come up with in that tiny brain of yours? Mudblood? And to think that you just finished telling be you were bright. But you are not bright." Hermione was now smiling more evily and broadly she continued, "And to set you straight my parent are in fact extremely well off. Oh but you wouldn't have noticed since all you are doing is clutching Malfoy like a lovesick puppy. Now if you have something actually smart to say then you now where to find me then." Hermone said.

**"Clutching to him like you wish you still could?" Pansy guessed, walking up to Draco and wrapping her arms around his neck, placing a small kiss on his cheek. "Like this, Granger?"******

**Draco allowed the movement only to gage Hermione's reaction. He grinned openly down at Pansy, appearing pleased to the world to have the pureblood attached to **

**him so. **"Actually no. I'm happy that to ugly people can actually find love." said Hermione with a small smile on her face, when what she really felt like doing was go to her room and cry her eyes out, since it was already in pieces, until she felt nothing for him. Then she turned to Harry and Ron.

"Let's go before we catch the stupid from her." she told harry and Ron smiling softly.

**"She's so intelligent and lovely with that rat's nest attached to her head, completely one to talk." Pansy said loudly to Draco, detaching herself and wiping at her clothes to straighten them.******

**"Hush up, love, people would think you actually cared what the Mudblood thinks." Blaise whispered warningly. "But to think, she called Draco ugly? That's just bang out of order. You're the prettiest thing I've ever seen, did I ever tell you that?" He asked Draco amiably.******

**Draco rolled his eyes. "You're proof people are born gay, Blaise."******

**"You'll grow into it." Blaise assured, grinning anyway.**Just then the doors opened and they saw the most beautiful dining hall. Professor McGonagall was waiting by a stool with an old looking hat on it. McGonagall started to call names.

"Bones, Susan." "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Granger, Hermione."

Hermione walked up and sat on the stool. After a few seconds the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. Hermione ran to the table smiling and hoping that her two new friends would join her too.

"Longbottom, Neville." The hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Draco." Right when the hat was lowered on his head the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" He walked away with a smirk on his face.

"Potter, Harry." The hat took a while deciding but then screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor. Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle were sorted into Slytherin.

"Smith, Zacharias." "RAVENCLAW!"

"Zabini, Blaise." "SLYTHERIN!"

Professor Dumbledore stood up and said "Tuck in." Everyone started eating and talking.

**Draco woke, took a long shower (he was fourty minutes ahead of himself) and tried his best not to think of the previous day. With a mind like his, trained as he was to catagorize and organize things even inside himself, this wasn't hard. After his bathing he dressed and finished getting ready before waiting in the common room for Blaise and Pansy.******

**At eight, he was ready for breakfast with his 'friends' (who were really beginning to grow on him, as much as he hated to admit it) and made his way down to sit at **

**the Slytherin table.**

Hermione was in the Gryffindor Common Room waiting to Harry and Ron so they can go eat breakfast. Since both of them loved food they should be down any minute. _I swear if they are not down here in ten minutes I will go wake them up with cold water thrown on their head._ That thought made her smile. She was somewhat disappointed she wasn't going to be able to do it ths time since the met up with her in six minutes. _Oh well next time, _she thought with a smile. They headed off toward the Great Hall for breakfast.

**Draco sat down, enjoying the breakfast though he secretly thought it no better than his at home. Marcus Flint sat down across from him, asking a few questions about his father and then getting into a long debate about which broom was the best these days.**Finally Hermione and the boys reach their tables and began to eat. Again Ron tried to eat with his mouth filled with food.

"A oner at glases 'e av?" Rontried to say while swallowing a big amount of food in his mouth.

"Ew. Ronald can you please eat with your mouth closed and not speak until you are finished swallowing please." Hermione said disgusted. While Harry just smiled at them both.

"Sorry I said I wonder what classes we have." said ron blushing slightly.

"Well..as long as we don't have any classes with Slytherin I'll be extremely happy." Hermione said.

"If you don't mind me asking why did you tell off that girl and the boy she was clutching for dear life?" Harry asked. He really wanted to know why she reacted that way and how she even new them to begin with.

"It's okay. This summer I was at the park and they happened to be there and they wer mean to me. And I'm not the type of person to pushed around. So I told her off." she said with a hint of anger in her eyes.

"Well if they try anything just tell us and we'll take care of them." Ron said angrily.

Hermione smiled at that. "Dont worry I can take cared of myself, but if I need you guys I tell you." she said.

They continued talking and laughing until Professor Mcgonagall came by and gave them their time tables. Which they started looking at immediately.

"Oh no! We Potions, Transfiguration, and Care of Magical Creatures with them! And they are all double periods." Hermione said angrily.

"Why would they do something like that? Don't they know that the only outcome is fighting?" a pissed off Harry said.

"Grr! I swear if they try anything I'll kick their arses!" Ron was livid.

"Ronald! I know you are mad but control your anger or it will get you into trouble." Hermione said disapprovingly.

"Fine." Ron huffed.

"I still agree with Ron though." Harry said.

"Me too but I am not going to get in trouble because of them." Hermione said, then looked at the Slytherin table in disgust. She turned around when she saw Draco. "Well let's get to class before we are late." she said brightly.

"Yes ma'm." replied Ron and Harry.

**"Draco." Pansy whispered, pointing down to their timetables.******

**"What is it, Pansy? Oh, hell." Lined up, all lessons that day would be with the Gryffindors.******

**"I've got to go, you should head to class also." Marcus warned, standing and rushing off.******

**"Let's go." Blaise requested, pulling Pansy to her feet and acting as if to do the same for Draco.******

**"Don't touch me." Draco hissed before he could shut his mouth, realizing this and standing hurriedly.******

**"Sorry, Draco. We've really got to make it to class soon."******

**"Idiot, Professor Snape is the teacher, he'll let us off if we're a bit tardy."******

**"Don't push it, it's the first day." Pansy requested, tugging at his sleeve until he walked to the classroom.**  
The Trio got to the classroom a few minutes before the bell ran.

"Thank God we got here on time. Next time we start to leave early because I don't want to be late, ever. Got it." she told Harry and Ron. Looking at them expectantly. After a few seconds they nodded their head.

Ron turned to Harry and said, "Girls." Then rolled his eyes.

**Pansy panicked when the bell rang, squealing, then hitting Draco in the arm for not going fast enough before running down the hall to the class. Blaise and Draco strolled in a moment later, finding two seats side-by-side in the back of the room, Draco now between Pansy and Blaise.******

**"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini. Please refrain from making this lateness routine, I assure you every second spent in this classroom is another closer to passing your exams and becoming a full Wizard. That is, if you've got talent." He favoured Draco with a small almost-smile, then glared at the Gryffindors.**  
While Professor Snape was instructing the class on the different types of poisons and their antidotes, she couldn't help but to think about Draco. She still had a hard time getting over the fact that she hurt him and herself beyond repair. Hermione was taking a lot of notes so she could research more about them even though she new practically everything about them.  


_OMG! I forgot to owl Mom and Dad! Darn it! Note to self owl them as soon as I get to the Common Room,_ she thought.

**Draco felt a strange urge to wreck his perfect posture and instead tilt back in his chair, prop his feet on the desk, and start pretending to snore. Snape was good at droning, he'd rarely heard it before, though, and this made listening quite difficult.******

**Pansy poked him in the side with her quill. "Pay attention, I'll not be helping you later." She ordered.******

**He blatantly ignored this, knowing he could just copy Blaise's notes if nothing else. Draco stared at the ceiling as if mesmerized by the grey hues he found there, some Pansy noted matched the color of his eyes. **  
Hermione was so caught up with her notes that she didn't notice the Snape had asked her a question.

"Miss Granger if you keep daydreaming in my class you will have to leave my classroom. Ten points from Gryffindor and detention today at 8 o'clock sharp in my office." Snape said with a sneer.

"Yes, sir." Hermione said through gritted teeth. She wanted to yell at him that she was taking notes not daydreaming but she thought against it because that would only anger him more.

"That's not fair. She was just taking notes not daydreaming." Harry said fuming.

"No Harry don't, he'll just give you detention also. He doesn't care about it anyways." Hermione said worriedly.

Snape looked angry at this but smirked and said, "Well Mr. Potter, for disturbing class defending your girlfriend you get detention tonight as well. And ten points from Gryffindor. Anymore more disruptions from Gryffindor, the person will receive a weeks worth of detentions and twenty points off."

Harry was red from anger and blushing from what Snape said.

"Ignore him Harry, he is just looking for ways to torture us. Don't fall into his trap." Hermione said pleading for him to stop.

"Fine!" Harry said huffing.

Ron was red also but saw the look in Hermione's eyes and saw that she was mad and had a little sadness too so he decided to not do or say anything, but instead he started writing angrily his notes.

**"Hah, the cow's got herself detention." Pansy said loudly, giggling.******

**"We all heard, Pansy, refrain from speaking pointlessly." Draco demanded just as she turned her glare on him.******

**"Says the boy that speaks only of himself." She shot back.******

**"And I, the most important person to live, am anything but pointless. Thus making your statement inacceptable and completely unintelligent." He pointed out arrogantly, running a hand along his slicked-back hair to check for any stray locks. There were none, of course, because Malfoys were always impeccable. No matter what unhappy news some Mudblood may or may not have delivered the previous day. Malfoys did not care, because they didn't need friendship. Not at all, he told himself as a mantra, smirking.**After the bell ran Hermione, Harry and Ron went to the rest of their classes. Hermione though had a little problem paying attention to class, even though she was still taking good notes nd answering questions, because she was worried about the detention she had tonight with Snape.

"Hey guys lets go eat dinner. I want to hurry up and do that detention with Snape because you know for a fat that it's going to be horrible." Hermione said.

"Yeah, I was trying to forget that fact but thank you for reminding me." Harry said sarcastically.

"Well it was your own fault, I told you to ignore him." she replied rolling her eyes.

"That was wrong what he did. He didn't even take points from Slytherin when Parkinson and Malfoy were late." Ron said.

"Yeah well that's Snape for you." said Harry.

They continued eating, Hermione talking about class and Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch. Well Hermione was mostly thinking about class as she half heartedly listened to them talk.

"Harry it's time for our detention. Let's go get this over with." Hermione said dreading what Snap was mostly likely going to make them do.

"Fine." Harry frowned.

"See ya later." Ron said giving them a pitying glance.

"Bye." Hermione and Harry said in unison.

**Draco decided to head down to the common room alone, because Pansy and Blaise were having a moment of disgustingly girly conversation. With a sigh, he straightened up and began walking the distance down through the cold dungeons.**

"Harry, can I ask you a question?" asked Hermione.

"Um..sure. What about?" said Harry.

"If I tell you a secret that no one knows will you promise not to freak out?" she said shyly. She needed to ask advice on her decision, whether or not she did the right thing.

"Yeah, Hermione you could tell me anything." said Harry with a smile.

_Yeah I've heard that before. Hermione be nice he's only trying to help, she thought._

"Well I wanted to tell you something. And I want to tell you because I can't keep things 

from friends. So hear goes. A few years ago when I was four I met Malfoy.."

"What!" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry please let me finish." Hermione said.

"But.." Harry started.

Hermione looked at him pleadingly.

"Fine. Continue." he said.

"Well we became good friends. And since then we've been, well was best friends." Hermione started tearing up. _Don't cry be strong Hermione, she scolded herself._

"Hermione you don't have to tell me if its too hard for you." he said sincerely.

"No it's okay Harry, I have to tell you. I'll be fine." she said wiping her tears.

"When I got on the train he met up with me and he told me that we should meet in secret because he did not want his parents to find out about us because then they would try to hurt me and then hurt him." Hermione cried. Harry put his arm around Hermione. "But I couldn't do that because I'm a horrible liar for one, and I did not want his parents to punish him because of me. When I told him that he gave me an option whether meet up in secret or stop being friends. I decided to stop being friends for his safety. Now I don't know if I did the right thing. And I miss him terribly. You must think I'm the most horrible person in the world for breaking someone's heart."

"No Hermione, you are not a horrible person for caring for someone. I don't know why you are blaming yourself. I would have done the same thing to keep you or anyone else safe." Harry said soothingly.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. That's why you were crying that day on the train, wasn't it?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I was." she said sadly.

"Okay, now clean your face before we meet up with Snape. 'Cause you know he'll use your pain against you." Harry said joking.

Hermione chuckled. "That's true. Let me go into the girls lavatory real quick to clean myself up." They stopped walking and Hermione went into the lavatory that was around the corner.

_Now I feel so much better now that I told Harry._ _I'm happy that he didn't judge me for my decision, she thought. _Hermione smiled at her reflection, then walked out to meet Harry.

"Let's go meet our doom." Harry said laughing.

"Okay. Oh! Harry you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not even Ron, because then he'll want to kill him." said Hermione.

Harry reluctantly agreed. "But you have to eventually have to tell him you know?"  


"I'll tell him eventually. 'Kay?" she said.

"Alright." he said.

They got to Snape's office and Hermione knocked on the door.

"Come in." someone said gruffly.

Harry and Hermione entered. "We are here for our detention sir." Hermione said strongly. Even tough she was slightly afraid of what he'll make them do.

"Well. Well. Well. The two troublemakers are here. For your punishment you will be cleaning the trophies in the trophy room. Without magic." Snape said evilly.

"Yes, sir." They replied.

Three hours later Harry and Hermione left the trophy room heading towards the Common Room.

"That was the worst punishment ever. Why did he have to make us clean all those trophies with only two toothbrushes?" Harry said angrily.

"I don't know but that was unfair. I wish that I could report him. But sadly he has the right to give out any punishment he wants." Hermione replied just as angry.

**"You're so quiet." Blaise commented, sitting down on the windowpane next to Draco. It was late, the only other people in the room were Pansy and two girls Draco didn't care to know, chatting softly on the couch near the fire.******

**Instead of verbally answering, Draco merely shrugged, staring out into the vast, blank night sky. Thick grey clouds covered the stars and moon, creating a heavy, opressive feeling.******

**"What's wrong, mate? And don't give me lies, I know something's up." Blaise insisted. Draco had never really liked him for this reason, he seemed to be able to look past the thick Malfoy walls, tear them down and find the truths, the reality . . . and sometimes have a chuckle at what he saw there.******

**"Nothing's wrong." Draco growled, pulling his knees tighter to him as if they would hold his emotions in.******

**"Bullshit." the brunette spat, not willing to take lies in order to comfort the other boy. "Does it have to do with Pansy? You're not paying her much mind today."******

**"No." Draco answered truthfully. "It has to do with a lost friend, stupid fights, and a dash of idiocy."******

**Knowing full-well that was as good as he would get, Blaise nodded, as if understanding. "Right. Well, I'd suggest some sleep and mindless distraction to cure it." He told him, clasping his shoulder as he stood. Three steps away and he looked back. "Don't let it change you, and don't let your guard down. No one is worth changing for, and you're a Malfoy so for Merlin's sake at least pretend to **

**buck up."******

**With those words of rude encouragement, Blaise was gone. And Draco felt all the more alone, staring through the magic window. ******

****

**AN: Army ready to kill Sam. Don't kill me! I did that for a reason, you'll see! Army back away for now. haha. :) Sorry if it did not come out as you would have wanted, but it will all be explained. I promise. :) Hope you liked it anyway! Since this is our longest chapter it should cover any of the things you may or not have liked. :) Any comments or constructive critisism welcome, just write it in that lonely box under this note. :) See ya later! **

**Brooklynsam3 and mike. :)**


	5. Seventh Year

**AN:** In this chapter several years have past. Now they are in their seventh year. Hope you like it. :) Here is chapter 5. Enjoy! :)

**WARNING:** If you do not like slash, violence, or language, I urge you to stop reading. Just a friendly warning.

**Reminder:** Bold is mike, regular is me.

**Disclaimer:** The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine, and if mike decides to add more characters then those original characters are hers.

There was a knock on the door. "Hermione dear, it's time for you to get ready for school." Jane said through the door.

Slowly Hermione woke up. "I'll be right there mom. Give me a sec to get ready." Hermione said groggily.

"Alright. Just hurry." her mom said.

"Okay." Hermione replied.

Hermione stretched and walked up to her mirror. _Goodness gracious! I look like hell!_ Hermione went to the lavatory and took a quick shower and brushed her teeth.

"Hmm. What should I do to my hair? Now that I can do magic cause I'm 17." she said out loud. She thought about it and decided to just put her hair loose with soft curls rolling down her back. Then she put on some light make up. Mostly a natural look. "Now I can go." she smiled at her reflection.

Hermione went down the stairs. "I'm ready to go." she yelled to her parents.

"Then lets go hun." said John.

They got into the car and started driving to King's Cross Station. When they got there Hermione said good bye to her parents and went straight to the platform to meet her friends.

_This year is going to be great! It's seventh year and it's time to have fun, she thought._

**"DRACO, GET UUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!" Pansy screached, jumping onto his bed and bouncing, giggling all the while.******

**"Get the hell off my bed, you whore." He groaned.******

**"So touchy in the morning. But really, we've got to get to the station-"******

**"And we can apparate, you lousy-"******

**"Get up and get dressed, NOW or I'll side-long apparate you there in your undergarments." She threatened.******

**He threw a pillow at her face. "Get out, then." he told her, throwing off the top blanket to reveal smooth flesh and only tight-fitted underwear for clothing.******

**"Alright. Blaise will be over soon, be dressed by then or I know you two will be late." Pansy **

**winked, gave him a leer, and closed the door behind herself.******

**Draco spelled open his closet, selected a lovely set of black robes, showered, dressed, and combed through his hair before someone threw open his door.******

**Strong arms wrapped around him, air fluttering at his ear with each labored breath. It was obvious the person had rushed up the many steps to Draco's room. "Hey, lover."******

**Draco turned, smirking but rolling his eyes. "Don't call me that, it's tacky."******

**"So is being bisexual, you can't pick from both, if you'd just say-" Blaise began, his usual rant.******

**"I am what I am, I'm a Malfoy, I'm beautiful, and I don't need you, so get out of my face before you're old news and I find a girl to take up my time. I was just thinking last night how I missed the softness of-"******

**Blaise pulled a face, jumping away from Draco as if to be near him meant contracting a disease. "I don't want to know about 'softness' or anything else they've got. Pansy tries to tell me all the time as it is." The brunette covered his ears.******

**"Alright, let's go down and get Pansy, then." Draco said, opening the door.******

**Blaise spun him around, pinning him against the wall. "I thought we could . . .?" He suggested.******

**"And the way their voice goes ever-higher when I-" Draco continued his earlier line of onslaught, knowing it to be the only sure-fire way of getting Blaise away from him.******

**Blaise groaned, pushing himself away and ruffling Draco's hair, just because he knew how much he hated it.******

**"Yuck! Why do you **_**do**_** that? If you want messy hair, go for Potter." The blond repremanded, pushing his hair more managably around his face, a most becoming look.******

**Blaise ran to the top of the stairs, then sat on the rail and slid down, grinning like an idiot all the way. Draco rolled his eyes and calmly walked down, deciding to get breakfast on the train.******

**"There you are!" Pansy said. "I was afraid I'd have to go up and seperate the two of you." She smiled, used to them by now. They'd been together, but not seriously, off and on during the summer.******

**Pansy was frankly happy he'd opened up as much as he seemingly had to Blaise, as the others he'd been with were usually for only a night or two. It was as if Draco was searching for something, and Pansy saw the way he sent that Granger girl looks when he thought no one was looking. If it couldn't be Pansy herself Draco found comfort with, she was glad it was Blaise.******

**"We're ready." Blaise took Pansy and Draco's hands, which was completely unnecissary but he seemed to find comforting. "There's no place like-"******

**"Merlin have mercy, no more muggle crap for you." And with that they all apparated to King's Cross Station.**

Hermione was looking through the big crowd around the train for Harry and Ron. She finally spotted them a few minutes later. _Wow! Harry and Ron look great. Quidditch must be doing them real good, she thought smiling to herself._ Hermione snuck up on their backs and then jumped up on them screaming hi.

"Ahh!" they yelled in unision.  


"Hermione!" they both said and hugged her.

"Why'd you do that for?" Ron said pouting.

"Yeah, we didn't do anything to you. Yet!" Harry said smiling.

"Hey guys! I did it because I thought it would be fun." she said smirking. "And no your not going to do anything or else I'll get Ginny to help me prank you guys."

"Hmhm. Yeah right. Keep on dreaming. You'll see Ron and I are going to get you girls good." Harry said cryptically, then looked at Ron out the corner of his eye. Ron got the hint and they started to advance on Hermione.

She imediately noticed what they were trying to do. "Oh no! You guys are not going to get me!" she yelled and turned around and ran while Harry and Ron were chasing after her.

Of course since Harry and Ron were more atheletic than Hermione they caught her. Ron picked her up and threw her over his shoulder laughing. "Ron set me down this instant!" she yelled laughing.

"Oh no. We told you we were going to get you." Harry said smiling.

Unknowing to them Ginny was stalking up to them. And then all of a sudden she sent a "nonlethal" batboogey hex at Ron. Ron imediately jumped and dropped Hermione, but Harry caught her before she hit the floor. "What the hell!" Ron yelled. Ginny quickly canceled the spell and ran to help Hermione.

"There's my partner in crime." Ginny said hugging Hermione.

"Hey Ginny! And thanks for helping me." said Hermione happily.

"Hey. I thought you might need my help. Sorry about you almost hitting the floor. I forgot that Ron is tall." Ginny said.

"Oh it's okay. We'll just have to get them back later." Hermione giggled.

"'Kay tell me when." Ginny laughed.

"OH! You guys guess what?!" Hermione said grinning madly.

"What?!" they replied.

"I made Head Girl! Isn't that great!" Hermione said jumping up and down.

"Yes! Congrats!" Ginny said.

"I knew it. No one else is as smart as our Hermione." Ron said, then blushed lightly.

"Yeah. Can't wait to celebrate later." Harry said smiling.

"Let's go to the compartment bceause the train should leave in a few minutes." Ginny said.

"Sorry you guys. The Heads have to share a compartment. But I'll see you at the feast." She told them looking a bit sad.

"Okay. See you later." said Ginny.

"Bye." Harry said.

"Bye." Said Ron looking a bit down.

Hermione started walking towards the Head's compartment._ I hope that the Head Boy is cute, she thought smiling._

**Blaise and Pansy yammered about something, Pansy repeatedly pushing Blaise away from her. "I can be straight, see!" He put and arm around Pansy, pulling her close and making as if to kiss her, then pretending to gag. "Okay, even straight guys couldn't do this, sorry Parkinson, but you're not much of a looker."******

**She rolled her eyes and shoved him away from her. "Why don't you just go back to your little boyfriend, off in your own damn world, and I'll just go find myself a nice guy with-"******

**"Rock hard, rippling abs, thick dark hair, high lovely cheekbones--" He began, touching his own cheeks and grinning.******

**"No, I don't like brunettes." She argued.******

**"Oh, going more for . . ." He looked over to Draco. "Tall, handsome, blond. Lean of stature but strong even with his light muscles. A trail of darker blond hair leading down his chest to dip--"******

**"Merlin, PLEASE stop it!" Pansy begged, covering her ears and rushing away.******

**"Well, that leaves us alone together . . ." Blaise told Draco, making to move him over to the wall.******

**"I have places to go." He motioned down to his Head Boy badge.******

**"Yeah, for whatever reason you have that, it's not as important as what I'm about to give you." He leaned in.******

**Draco pushed him away. "Really, I **_**have**_** to go." He said, sounding irritated.******

**"Everyone's pushing me today." Blaise complained, then brighted. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. I'll walk you to the compartment, you know, make sure you don't get lost or abducted--"******

**Draco gave an exhausted but fond smile. "Abducted?"******

**"Have you seen yourself lately? Be glad I haven't abducted you." Blaise gave him a look up and down.******

**They were walking toward the correct compartment, Draco becoming more in favor of Blaise's idea as they went. "Then I guess now's your chance." He told the other boy slyly.******

**Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he slid open the compartment door with a flick of his wand, moved in so his entire body was touching Draco's, and kissed him lightly.******

**Draco wrapped his arms around Blaise's waist, stepping blindly backward into the compartment and hoping with all of his might that the Prefects weren't early as he shoved Blaise again, this time staying with him as they leaned against the wall for support, the kiss getting more heated.**

Hermione was yet againg in her own world thinking about feelings she had had about certain people. _Hmm. Ron is cute, funny, atheletic, and romantic. So he makes a great match, but what about Ginny? Do I have any feelings for her? No I think it's just curiosity. Yes, that's it. I think I should give Ron a chance, maybe he can be a good boyfriend. _  


She was so wrapped up in her toughts that when she walked into the compartment it took her a moments to see that there was a brunette guy and a blonde guy snogging.

She was sort of amused at that but also extremely disgusted. "Ew. Break it up or I give you detention. And I don't care if we are in school or not." she demanded.

**Draco broke the kiss, knowing Blaise wouldn't, and gasped for air . . . air, which tasted very sweet after his lack of it. He was dazed as he looked about for the direction of the voice. "Piss off, I'm busy." He began, then noticed who it was and another wall veiled his eyes, covering the fire that had been burning in them. It was her. Anyone would have been preferable to her, especially with Blaise sucking and nipping at the side of his neck, running his hands up and down Draco's chest.******

**Not only was it embarrassing, and Draco was never embarrassed when it came to things like this, it was downright disturbing. His eyes widened as he pushed Blaise away, trying to stop him.******

**"What's wrong?" Blaise murmured, not interested in the person that had come in, but in staying with Draco. He leaned over to kiss Draco again, but Draco shoved him fully away.******

**"Stop, you have to go." He told him, sounding breathless.******

**Finally Blaise looked around, saw Hermione, and glared. "Afraid to give the Mudblood a show, lover?"******

**A faint blush hit his cheeks. "You're not a Prefect, get out." Draco reminded him.******

**"Fine." Blaise was obviously unhappy, but he leaned in and pecked Draco on the lips anyway, turning and rushing out of the compartment, slamming the sliding door shut.******

**Rather than looking at her, Draco took his seat and arranged his thoughts. He was with Blaise, he hadn't done more than trade insults with her in years. And he was rather happy being with Blaise, anyway. Right? Yes. Of course. Because Blaise was beautiful, if ever a man was. And he understood Draco like no one else did, he'd listen . . . hell, he rarely ever laughed when Draco told him things anymore! His head felt strangely frazzled, but on the outside he was calm as he sat straight upright, waiting for the Prefects.**

Hermione had become hard to her feelings towards Draco, because she took it to heart what he said.

"Aww. Why did you stop? I was getting ready to show everyone else what our little Malfoy does on his spare time." she said with hint of anger. _Yes I'm still mad at him for making me choose. Hmm. I kind of also thought it was sexy. STOP there Hermione. You are not going there! she scolded herself. _**Anger blazed in his grey-blue eyes, making them sparkle. He was trying not to let her get a rise out of him, but that wasn't working. "Have a problem with a man enjoying the company of a man, Mudblood? Or is it just because it leaves you out of the picture?" He snapped. Blaise was going to be angry with him later, which meant he'd be getting just about nothing until he straightened things out. Draco was mad at himself already, because really, what did he care what she thought?******

**"That was what I do in my spare time, but usually it includes less clothes and more people, all wanting **_**me**_**." Draco grinned in a preditory fashion. "That's what you want, isn't it? Go ahead and tell everyone, I'm a little queer. Do it. Advertize to the boys they can have me too. It's not going to get you any closer to getting something that you obviously desperately need."******

**He leaned against the wall, wishing he hadn't kicked Blaise out. **"No. I don't mind. As long as I don't ever see it." she said with fake friendliness. "but I guess you do have a point there. If I do announce that your the "happy" type then some boys may go for you." But then she thought of something funny, so she smiled and said, "Who ever said I wanted to be with you? I don't desperately need anything especially 

from you, when I can get it from a REAL MAN." she countered with an amused sparkle in her eye. Of course she was getting mad but she definitely wasn't going to let him see it.

"And why do you even care what I think or need?" she said leaning closer to him with her elbows on her knees holding her head a little tilted to the side.

_**Think of boys, think of boys, think of strong, muscled, experienced men and clumsy, adorable boys . . .**_** Draco willed. He'd found this worked, if he thought of how attractive he found one of the sexes he could better ignore the other. "A 'real man', because queers aren't real men?" He asked, his voice husky with raw emotion. Merlin, he hated people who thought things like that, and he hoped she did so that maybe he could forget about her.******

**"Are you sure what you're not looking for is a 'real lesbian', love? Because you're looking a bit manish today." This may have been a complete lie, but it made him feel much better as an easy smirk fell into place on his face.******

**"And, just so you never think differently, I've got loads of boys and girls already after me. I've got a new one every night." A bit of an exaggeration, but over the summer it had happened for a few weeks on end multiple times. **"Do not presume to say that I discriminate against homosexuals, because I do not. I only said that YOU are not a real man. Now Blaise, or anybody other male are real men. Yes I said it." she said angrily. Her best friend in the muggle world is as gay as you can get.

She actually laughed at Malfoy trying to say that she was a lesbian. "Now that was funny. I didn't know that you payed attention to me. And if I was it certainly would not be any of your business." she said smirking. Then she sat back and got one of her favorite books out to read. It was getting boring watching Malfoy get mad.

**His cheeks tinged pink again. Damn her! He wasn't a real man? Draco Malfoy? "What exactly is your demented definition of a real man, if not someone who could get a real woman? What, have I got to sweat through my shirts, drink hard alcohol, get my hands dirty? Tell me, Mudblood, because every straight girl and gay boy seems to think I'm real enough." He said suggestively, looking down to his lap and back up to her with a cold gleam in his eye.**

"No. That may be your definition. My definition is someone who likes me for who I am, is romantic, funny, couragous, and atheletic. Someone you are not." she said seriously.

"Oh wait! If you mean Parkinson and Blaise, and everyone else in Slytherin. Then they are very mistaken." she said disgustedly.

"And no matter how many times you look at yourself, it's not getting any better." she said, knowing that she hit a soft spot.

**"Don't try to insult that part of my manhood, I can assure you beyond a doubt that from how many times it's been in use, it is wholly operational, perfectly capible of causing the upmost pleasure, and anything else about it is none of your business." He grinned, thinking back on compliments he'd receved. "Wait, your definition of a real man includes liking you? How many could there be? Weasel? Potty may, but I really thought he was better than that. Dearheart, I think you're very mistaken with how many males there are out there who prefer women, for one, and other than that who could ever think to like you." He said patronizingly.******

**"Courage, perhaps not. But romance I can do, comedy also, and who's been a Seeker for the Slytherin team going on six years? I'm the CAPTAIN of the team. Don't think you know me because of what house I'm in. Since you're set on making a stereotype come true, shirking my duty seems fitting." With that he left, closing the compartment door and going down the hall in search of Blaise, who would assure him over and over again of his manliness and overall beauty.**

How dare he insult me he is so lucky I can control my anger, she thought.

Hermione looked at her wrist watch. It said that the prefect meeting should start in a few minutes. I guess I should get ready.

After she gave out the instructions she went back to reading her book. And for the rest of the ride there was no Malfoy to bother her. Half an hour later she decided to change into her school robes. So she got her robes and locked the compartment so no one can accidentally enter and see her changing. When she finished she had fifteen minutes lef until she reached the school.

So she went to meet Harry, Ron and Ginny. She found them in one of the compartments near the other end of the train.

"Hey guys." she said brightly.

"Hey." they said.

"Soo who's Head Boy? I'm dying to know." Ginny said smiling.

"Uggh. You will not believe who's head boy. It's Malfoy." Hermione said anglily.

"What was he thinking?!" Ron yelld.

"Has he lost his mind?!" said an equally mad Harry.

"I don't know, and I think so. Well the only good thing is that I have just tormented him. And I know something that he regrets, so I can torment him furthur if he tries to torment us." she said smirking.

"Really what?" asked Ginny.

Harry on the other hand new that she had to be careful since she had told him about Malfoy and her, he did his best to teach her to be though. So he was worried about her because he knew Malfoy was not one to back down from a fight.

"Just be careful Hermione. Cause if he tries anything I'm going to have to kick his ass." Harry said worriedly.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." Hermione reasured him. He was still worried but he knew that she could take care of herself. He smiled knowing all to well that if you anger her you can be in grave danger.

They arrived at Hogwarts fifteen minutes later.

Ginny grabbed Hermione behind the guys so they wouldn't hear what she was going to ask. "Hermione you still didn't say what you foud out about Malfoy." Ginny asked excidedly.

"Well you have to promise not to tell anyone. Okay?" Said Hermione.

"I promise." Ginny said quickly.

"I found out that Malfoy is a bisexual. When I got him mad he confirmed it." Hermione said.

"Really. Wow! Who would have thought." Ginny said smiling at Hermione. _I think that I may have some attraction for Ginny. Is that alright? she tought._

The four headed out to the thestrals.

**Draco and Blaise had kicked out a bunch of first-year Hufflepuffs and Draco spent the rest of the trainride reassuring himself he was perfectly fine and showing Blaise exactly **_**how**_** perfectly fine he was. He smoothed his hair down, straightened his robes, and looked down at Blaise, who lay on the bench. "Remember, if you tell a sole-" He began.******

**"I know, I know, love. I won't." The brunette smiled his stunning smile, and Draco found he was reassured. With a single smile he left the compartment, found Pansy, and the three of them searched for an empty carriage.******

**Most of them were already stuffed full, so he had to use his status and Slytherin cruelty to get them an empty one, where Blaise promptly sat right next to Draco so no one could see what he had planned for the 'long ride up to the castle' that he assured Draco it would be. Of course, with Pansy there Draco quickly pushed the other boy away. **  
Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry were barely listening to the sorting. They were too busy talking about the year ahead and quidditch.

Professor Dumbledor stood up and signalled for everyone to be quiet. "Welcome for another year at hogwarts. Just a reminder the Forbidden Forrest is out of bounds, and Mr. Filch has asked me to tell you that anything that comes from the Weasley's Wizard Weezes are not allowed in the halls. Now before we begin i would like you to meet the new Head Boy and Girl, Miss Hermione Granger and Mister Draco Malfoy. Tuck in." There was applause and boos from everyone.

"Finally, I'm starving." Ron said stuffing his mouth fool of food.

"Ronald can you please close your mouth when you eat?"Hermione ask disgusted.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that." He said blushing.

"Ginny can I talk to you tomorrow. I have to ask you something. And I don't want Harry or Ron to know about it." Hermione whispered in Ginny's ear.

"Sure." Giny whispered back.

"What are you two talking about?" Harry asked suspicously.

"We were talking about make up, the ball, and boys. What else is there to talk about?" Hermione said smiling sweetly.

"Yeah right. You two are trying to plan an attack on us, aren't you?" Ron said narrowing his eyes then smiling at Harry. "Like they can get us."

"I don't know they are pretty smart. But we are smarter." Harry said smirking.

"We'll see about that." Ginny said then looked at Hermione, with a look that said _Ohh they are going to get it_. Hermione smiled.

**"Same damn boring feast. Same damn boring faces." Draco muttered.******

**"Don't make that face." Pansy told him automatically. "It's unbecoming."******

**"Darling, when every face is unbecoming on someone, that someone should not point out another person's flaws." Blaise replied with mocking sweetness for Draco. "So, how did it go with Granger? Have a nice fuck?" He asked, raising a brow.******

**Pansy choked on her roll, coughing heavily.******

**"Blaise, that was inappropriate conversation for the table, besides that it's disgusting anywhere when it includes people of sub-human class." he sneered, looking across the hall to the Gryffindor table to see **_**her**_**.******

**"If she's so sub-human what does it matter what she sees? It's not like anyone would believe her. And what do you care if they know?" Blaise asked, obviously honestly wanting an answer.******

**Draco shrugged. "We'll talk later." He noticed he was getting looks around the table, people interested in the famous Slytherin Prince's conversation with his most-loyal subjects.******

**"No, we'll talk **_**now**_**." Blaise demanded.******

**"You know what will happen to me if my father finds out about this." Draco reminded him in a low whisper, directly into his ear.******

**Blaise looked away. "Yeah, yeah. We'll talk later." He was quiet for the rest of the meal.**

Professor Dumbledor stood up again and said, "Now that we have eaten it is time to go to bed. So would the Heads please follow me to your rooms. Goodnight."

"See you guys tomorrow." Hermione said.

"Bye." Harry, Ron and Ginny said.

Hermione headed to Prof. Dumbledor, Malfoy was already there. "Hello Professor." she said brightly.

"Hello Miss Granger. Follow me to your rooms please." Professor Dumbledor said, his eyes twinkiling.

"Yes, sir." Hermione and Malfoy replied.

**"Rooms? God, I'd forgotten." Draco looked from Pansy to Blaise, but Blaise wouldn't look at him. He was angry, and now they had no time to talk. Pansy just shrugged, not knowing how to help.******

**"Meet you at breakfast?" She proposed.******

**"Yeah . . ." He hated Blaise being angry with him, but he didn't know what to do about it. "Meet me later by the prefects' bathrooms and I'll show you where the rooms are."******

**Blaise shrugged. "Whatever." was all he said before walking out.******

**Having nothing more to do, he walked over to Dumbledore. The old codger looked as disturbed as ever, he decided, but he lead them to the rooms without stopping or looking confused, so Draco forgave him. Just this once.******

**As luck would have it, the room was just down a small hallway from the Prefects' bathroom, the door was guarded by a suit of armor and looked to be nothing more than a large corner at the turn of the hall. If the right password was said, though, he'd move to the side and touch a brick, at which point you'd be allowed intrance. Dumbledore told them not to invite anyone inside who they did not trust explicately, not to tell anyone their password, and if they were to have anyone inside, both of them should concent that person was allowed. With that, he left, and Draco said the password.******

**It was late, he was exhausted, and he really didn't want to be near Hermione but the wall slid open and he forgot about this. It had homey Gryffindor touches, gold accents and a strangely warm atmosphere that he accounted to being one of those 'Gryffindor things', but most of it was colored silver and black.****  
**

**  
****Black couches with silver pillows (only two of them), two silver armchairs side by side, and a very modern-looking black and silver mantle. Above it was a portrait he thought should be immediately taken down, one of Godric Gryffindor and Salizar Slytherin when they were obviously still friends, Gryffindor grinning foolishly and Slytherin smirking in turn as they shook hands. Gryffindor occasionally let out a chuckle and Slytherin nodded, as if they were having a conversation so long recited that they now didn't even have to say the words.******

**Along the wall above a large, real window that looked out over the forest and lake (a bench lining it), there was a Slytherin banner, but on the other side of the room hung one for Gryffindor. Even if he couldn't get rid of the horrible picture, he'd have to burn that eyesore. He hated the Gryffindor colors, it would be destroyed.******

**Under the Gryffindor banner was a bookshelf, lining the wall and filled with study materials, along with a desk. That had to be for Hermione as much as he was somehow sure the window was his.******

**To the left, there was a door labled 'Head Boy: Draco Malfoy' and to the right one saying 'Head Girl: Hermione Granger'. Draco walked into his room to find they had a bathroom to share. He hated sharing. But his room was decorated just as the Slytherin dorms were, so that was at least comforting. **When Hermione walked in she felt like she was in heaven. She loved the way all the colors were used in the room. What caught her eye was the painting of Gryffindor and Slytherin being friendly towards each other.

When she saw the mini library she ran to it and pick out a book to read. But before she could start she yelled out to Malfoy, "These are the rules of the Common Room first off don't bother me while I'm reading, second no PDA in the Common Room while I'm there, do that in your room. Third just stay out of my way and we'll be fine. Fourth I bring whoever I want when I want. Lastly no having sex anywhere besides your room. Got it?" Hermione stated then started reading the book she got off the self called 'Famous Wizard Painters.' She decided to look at the bathroom they had to share and her room after she read a little.

**"Alright, fair. This is how it goes about inviting people in. I'm probably going to have Blaise here until I'm finished with him. Pansy may show up. Then there will be others when Blaise isn't here, and I'm not going to go and ask if they can come in, because it would certainly kill the mood. I won't disturb your reading if you make sure to stay out of my way when I've got someone here and never, **_**never**_** try to come into my room when the door is closed. Or ever, really." He then smirked.**

"Like I would want to." she looked up at him and smiled evily. "Like I would want to see how small you are." She laughed and started to walk to her room. "Oh, and do not go anywere near my room either. If it's a dier emergency then knock." She turned around put the book back on the shelf and began walking to her room again.

**Draco rolled his eyes. "If only I was more desperate for your approval, you'd get the eyefull you're asking for." He told her. "When I come back, it will be one of those time that even if everyone in the castle has died and I'm next, don't talk to me." Draco warned.******

**With that he left in search of Blaise. It wasn't long before he found the boy, leaning against the wall. "He-" Blaise started, being cut off before he was able to greet Draco by the other boy's lips roughly against his.******

**Draco bit Blaise's bottom lip, kissing him hard, then pulled on his hand. "Come on, I've got my own room."******

**"Wow, I'll be your first-" Blaise said with a chuckle. "In this bed."******

**The blond playfully swatted at him, tugging hard at Blaise's tight shirt. "Come **_**on**_**!"****  
**

**  
****"So impatient! I dare say getting angry around that girl seems to do it for you, I'll leave you around her more often."******

**"Shut up and hurry." Draco growled. "Or I'll leave you out here and go find someone else."******

**Blaise rushed with him back to the common room, where Draco quickly got the door open before Blaise pushed him over the couch's arm, falling on top of him.******

_**"No PDA in the livingroom."**_** Hermione's voice echoed through his head. He was about to move Blaise to the room when Blaise stripped off Draco's shirt and his own magically. Suddenly the couch was looking much too inviting to leave, screw her rules, she was reading and probably wouldn't come out anyway.**

_'Where did I put that book? Oh yeah! I put it back on the shelf. Let me go get it, I want to finish reading the chapter I was on before going to bed.'_ Hermione went to her door and opened it softly because she heard a noise from the other side of the door. She carefully opened the door just in case it was Malfoy trying to prank her. _'You can't be too careful when he's involved'. _

Hermione gagged at the sight in front of her. It was Zabini on top of Malfoy having sex. Hermione felt like throwing up. But instead she decided to get even since he broke one of her rules.

She whispered, "Incarcerous", and immediately saw that Zabini was ropped. So she accioed their wands and locked her bedroom door and bathroom door quickly. And just in case they broke through the door she put an invisible spell on herself so they wouldn't be able to see her, and she put a spell so that the wands can't be accioed back to their owner. Then she stood in the corner away from everything, and waited for the explosion that was sure to happen.

She smiled to herself, but then thought, _'Am I being unfair doing this? No! He's been an evil git to you, he deserves it.'_

**"What the hell?" Draco groaned, denied his satisfaction. Blaise's arms were tied to his sides with a rope he couldn't break through. "That bitch!" He immediately realized it couldn't have been anyone but Hermione.******

**"Draco . . ." Blaise said from the ground. "As much as I can see this is killing **_**you**_**, I'm the one on the ground. Mind getting me up, lover?"******

**An evil smile lit Draco's face. He lifted Blaise, though the other boy was heavy, and placed him back on the couch.******

**The bindings were too tight and Blaise groaned about being uncomfortable. Damn, one plan ruined.******

**"Goddamnit!" Draco pounded on Hermione's door. "Give me my damn wand, or get him undone. I don't care, but you're going to have some big problems if I'm left without for the rest of the night because of you. **"What are you talking about Malfoy? I do not have your wand. you probably misplaced it." she called through her room. She silently giggled, messing with Malfoy is fun.

**Draco tugged at the doorknob, but of course it wouldn't open. A certain part of him was VERY unhappy with being cheated, but he knew Blaise wouldn't be up for anything until those damn things were taken off. He really didn't feel like making a run down to the dungeon to get Pansy to take them off. "Open the damn door, then." He told her, not realizing he was still naked. **"NO! Now go away! I'm trying to sleep!" she yelled to him. _'Okay after a minute I'll give him his wand back, if not he'll have a heart attack it he doesn't get his Blaise.'_

**"Fucking damn . . ." He started, punching the wall. "Stupid virgins and Gryffindors and virgin Gryffindors! Your punishment will be cruel, unusual, and lengthy if I don't get my wand back in the next minute." He swore.******

**Blaise moaned, the ropes digging into his side from the couch. The sound was familiar enough to bring back other times it was used, which had Draco clenching his fists, flushing.**

"Okay fine! Do you promise to never have sex in the Common Room again? If you agree to follow ALL my rules, which are simple, then I'll give you your wand back." She yelled through the door laughing.

**Draco crossed his fingers childishly behind his back. "I swear, all right? Now give me my damn wand!" He practically begged, leaning his head against the wall next to her door. **"I can tell you are lying so I'm going to do something even better." she said righ in front of the door. "You will only get to have you fun but no wand."

She pointed her wand though the crack from the door and the floor, and whispered the counter curse.

"There you got what you wanted before, when you mentioned your terms. Now may I go to sleep?" she asked.

**"Whatever, my wand had better be out here for me in the morni-" Blaise was suddenly behind him, biting the side of his neck. Draco let out a long sigh, then pulled the other boy into their room where he closed the door.**

"It won't!" she yelled through the door knowing that he did not hear her. _'Oh well. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day'._Hermione walked to her bed and said the counter spell on herself. And went to sleep.

**Two hours later, Draco fell asleep, utterly exhausted, as Blaise dressed and left to go back to his room, where he could sleep. It was a rule always followed, don't fall asleep in Draco's room. Not only wasn't he a morning person, he didn't like the feeling of being trapped that waking up and finding someone there seemed to instill in him.**

_Dream ___

_Hermione was standing under a big tree were she first met Draco. She turned around and tried to see if there was anyone else around. She only saw a miniature version of herself and Draco playing on the swings. She slowly walked to them playing and laughing, she started to cry because she remembered those days where she had fun with him and no complications. ___

_All of a sudden the two little kids started arguing and calling each other names and saying that they hated each other. Hermione tried to tell them that fighting is bad and they should be having fun not fighting. But the words didn't come out, it was as is she was silenced. ___

_She tried to scream but it didn't work.___

_End Dream _  
Hermione woke up screaming and sweating. She stopped when she remembered that it was only a dream. So she got up and got her robes to take a quick morning shower. She went into the bathroom and locked both doors the magical way and muggle way. Her room door was already looked. She took a quick shower, unlocked the door to Malfoy's room so he could use it, but still kept hers locked.

While she was getting dressed she started laughing at what happened last night.

**Draco woke to a scream, feeling like someone had drenched him in ice. His heart jumped irratically, he was sure he'd heard it . . . the bathroom door locked and he relaxed. Just Hermione, obviously not an emergency. He couldn't get back to bed, so when he heard the door unlock he **

**called. "Get out, I've got to take a shower. My wand had better be waiting for me when I'm ready for it." He found he was still naked and his sheets were sticky with sweat. Disgusted, he cast a quick cleaning charm on them, surprised at himself for falling asleep as he had.**

"Whatever it's empty! And no you will get your wand when I see fit. You should not have messed with me!" she yelled through the bathroom door.

**"I need that! I've got classwork to do, unless you'd like to be reported to Snape, I want my wand on the endtable when I get out there." He threatened, knowing his godfather would give him his way. **"That better no have been a threat because I could easily go to Prof. Dumbledore and tel his about your little rendez vous in the Common Room, when he specifically gave his instruction. Now I will be waiting for you in the Common Room, to talk civily about my rules and if you try anything I do know wandless magic and I know how to fight also. So hurry up if you want to see you wand back, because I don't plan to be late for breakfast. I told you al you had to do was follow four simple rules and you couldn't even do that. Now you have to be punished." she yelled through the bathroom door. Then walked out to sit one one of the couches that they were not it and started reading. _'He better not try anything 'cause I put an anti-violence spell on the Common Room.'_

**Draco growled, mumbling about Gryffindors and the horrible things that could happen to them. Should someone be willing to try it. But he took a fast, hot shower and changed quickly, combed through his hair and was out in a flash. "Alright, Granger. But if you'll remember, you broke one of my rules also. You interrupted my sex. I said never get in my way when I have someone here, I didn't say anything about just when they're in my room. I think we're even, I was tortured quite thoroughly last night."******

**He sat back on the couch he and Blaise had defiled the night before, breathing in a light smell of cologne. **Hermione looked up from her book and smiled. "Actually I didn't. You still resumed to have sex, all I did was furthur you "excitement" as you said." she said. "Anyways back to business. Now that I have your full attention, you have to swear that you will not harm me in any way shape or form. Silly pranks are okay to a limit, no furthur, no pranking outside the Common Room. And lastly you have to promise that you will obey my rules. If you decide to break anyone and I see you, or any evidence I will find you and there will be consequences. Agree and you will get your wand back, but remember a promise is always a promise." she said seriously, then extened her hand as a sign of deal. She looked at him dead in the eye waiting for his reaction.

**"I don't care what you say, last night was cruel." Draco started, not wanting to promise anything. He really didn't mind just lying, but swearing and lying? That wasn't something he made a habit of doing. He smiled suddenly, deciding he needed his wand back. "I swear to not do you bodily harm, nor will I prank you publicly. I will follow all your rules as you layed them down. But I further swear that what I will do will not be something you will like at all. It will most likely sicken and disgust you. And I will enjoy that disgust." He smirked, shaking her hand and meaning every word.******

**"Now, hand over my wand."**  
Once their hand touched they were bathed in orange light. But as soon as it came it went. "Now I'm happy." she said smirking. She knew the consequences of breaking the rules they both set. _'He is not going to like it when he finds out the consequence. She smiled at that.'_ "Here, and here is Zabini's also. I felt bad for forgeting to give it to him." she said then turned around to go to breakfast.

**"Whoa, what just happened?" Draco demanded, taking his and Blaise's wands.**

"Oh nothing. Just the agreement was finalized. Unless we both decide to change it." she turned around and laughed at his panic. "Don't worry you won't die. Just make sure you follow the agreement or there will be consequences." she smiled and walked out the door. She was heading to breakfast, and she also had to meet up with Ginny and talk to her about her inner thoughts. _'I hope I don't freak her out, she thought worriedly.'_  


**"Ah-ah-ah, Granger. I'm guessing these 'consiquences' aren't just you being upset with me and crying all over the place." He called as he grabbed his bookbag and ran after her. "What 'consiquences', are they, specifically."**

Hermione was starting to get annoyed with all his questions. "I don't know. All I know is that once you shake hands the agreement is set in place and if you break it there are consequences, depending on the person breaking it. It's not lethal if that's what's got your knicker's in a twist." she told him. "Now may I leave to go eat?"

**Draco gave her a sidelong glance, looking unhappy. "I think you're hiding something from me." He told her before taking longer strides and a different hall to get him to breakfast quicker. Once there, he sat between Blaise and Pansy, Theo, Crabbe and Goyle opposite them.******

**"Amazing." Blaise whispered to him, stroking his thigh momentarily under the table before Draco pushed his hand away. **_'Finally I can go eat in peace.'_ Hermione walked to the Great Hall, when she went in she looked at them Slytherin table and found Malfoy eating unhappily. She smirked at the sight, but felt a twinge of regret. _'Hermione you've been over this he is no worth the pain, she scolded herself.'_ She sat down next to Ginny who was the only one there at the moment.

"Hi Ginny." she said briskly.

"Hey, how was the first night sleeping in your new dorm?" Ginny asked curiously.

"That was great Hermione. Just be careful okay. " Ginny said.

"I know. Hey do you want to see the dorm later?" Hermione asked.

"Sure! I'd love to." said Ginny.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot. Um..can we go somewhere private so I can tell you what's bothering me. I don't want to say it here because we might be overheard." She said getting to leave.

"Okay." Ginny said.

When they got to the doors Harry and Ron walked in. "Hey, were are you guys going?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"I have to ask Ginny a question about feminine stuff." Hermione lied.

"Okay. Meet us here before we go to class. We don't want to give Snape any reason to pick us off alone." Harry said jokingly.

"Alright." Hermione said then walked to the nearest empty bathroom with Ginny.

**Draco passed Blaise his wand, not letting anyone else see it. "Thanks." Blaise said quietly, obviously not understanding Draco wanted silence, not quiet. "How'd you get it back from her?"******

**"Your question should be 'How are we getting her back?'." Draco reasoned.******

**"Alright, how, then?" Blaise questioned.******

**"Well . .. " He leaned over and whispered in Blaise's ear.******

**The boy's eyes widened. "Really? You'd do that?"******

**Draco nodded evilly. "She deserves it."******

**"If you're sure."**

When they got to the bathroom Hermione felt nervous because what she was about to tel her could possibly ruin their friendship. "Ginny, I hvae been having these thoughts about you and I'm not sure if they are right." Hermione began, looking at her hands.

"Hermione are you trying to say that you may be attracted to me?" Ginny sad knowingly.

"How did you know?" Hermione said surprised.

"Don't worry about it. I have been having some thoughts of you also. I think we are just curious though. Because I still love Harry." she explained.

"Yes that's what I was thinking. But would you mind if I kissed you just to make y curiosity go away. Then we could go back to our normal lives as if nothing happened." Hermione said hopefully.

"Um...okay." Ginny said. They kissed each other for a good while. When they broke off for air they were both blushing madly.

"So how do you feel?" Hermione asked Ginny, hoping that they were still friends.

"Actually I feel better since I got over my curiosity, and I still love Harry, I love you as my sister and nothing will ever change that." Ginny said confidently.

"Phew! I'm happy you said that because I agree with you." Hermione said relieved.

"Okay, now let's go find the boys. They might send a search party if we don't hurry up and meet them." Ginny said smiling.

Hermione and Ginny skipped arm in arm to meet the boys in the Great Hall.

"Finally you guys came. We thought you got lost in the castle. You two are very happy." Harry said smiling.

"Yes, why?" Ron asked.

"We are smiling because we were just talking about what Hermione did to Malfoy last night." Ginny said happily.

"Really what did you do?" asked Ron nervously.

"I'll tell you on the way to Potions. Bye Ginny." Hermione said.

"Bye, Gin." Harry and Ron said.

"Bye guys, see you later." Ginny said.

On the way Hermione told them everything except the sex part, and subtituted arguing with it.

**AN: **So there was chapter five, hope you like it. Let me know by leaving a review. Not too harsh please. :) 

Constructive critism please. : )Anyways thankz to the people who reviewed last chapter. :)

**Brooklynsam3 and mike. :)**


	6. Conversations and Rules, Part 1

**AN:** I am sooo sorry for not updating in ages but life got in the way. I promise that we haven't abandoned the story. Since I made you wait so long I made chapter six long, obviously to long since this chapter is the first part of chapter 6. The second part will be posted soon. :D

**WARNING:** If you do not like slash, violence, or language, I urge you to stop reading. Just a friendly warning.

**Reminder:** Bold is mike, regular is me**. ****Disclaimer:** The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine, and if mike decides to add more characters then those original characters are hers.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Draco was in the back of the classroom, his feet on the desk, chuckling at Blaise who had just finished 'serenading' Pansy (who was ready to kill him with her chopping knife).****"Enough, settle down." Snape bayed them, his nasal voice droning already as he stepped to the front of the classroom. **

"Harry, stir the cauldron counter clockwise three times then let it simmer for ten minutes. But watch it just in case it starts to boil." Hermione told Harry.

"Okay." Harry said with a look of pure concentration.

Hermione, Ron and Harry were brewing the Dreamless Sleeping Draught, so they had to be careful because any little mistake could be dangerous.

Snape walked by their table with a sneer. "I guess that Granger is the one with the balls in this group." Snape whispered maliciously at them.

Hermione turned pink. Harry and Ron looked ready to kill. If deathly glares could kill Snape would have died at that moment.

"What no comment? I guess it's true." Snape said laughing evilly, he then walked away.

Harry and Ron moved as if to hit him, but Hermione stood in front of them and whispered ," Harry, Ron don't. He's just trying to give you detention and dock off points."

"Fine! But eventually I will get him back for all the hell he's put us through." Harry said viciously still glaring at Snape's back. Then he looked at Hermione and turned to watch his potion angrily.

"I agree to that." Ron said angrily.

"Just please be careful." she said worriedly. She really did care about them, but sometimes 

it was hard to get through their thick heads. "You know that's not true though." she smirked. "I can get some girl to vouch for it."

Harry and Ron's expressions were priceless. They were both blushing madly. "How... did... you know?" Ron stammered as Harry looked at her sheepishly.

"I have my sources. So let's finish the potion and later we'll talk about how I know, if you want." she giggled.

"I want to know how you know… now" Harry said sternly.

Hermione gave him an annoyed glare and said, "Harry we have to finish this potion soon, so please watch it. Don't make me hex you."

"This isn't over you know." Harry said smirking but a little scared about what she might to him. He did train her after all so he knew what she could do. Even if he was stronger than her physically she still was good with her wand.

Ron was watching mildly amused at the two arguing. He smiled, Hermione was sometimes scary but he knew that she meant well.

**"Professor, this potion is too simple. I've brewed it a thousand times." Draco whined without actually lowering himself to the task of whining.****"Yes, I know. Very well, as long as you can complete the potion from next lesson without difficulty, I'll know that you should not have been made to do this. But if you do not, you'll have to serve a detention making it. For now, do as you please." With that, he began walking away.****"Really, there's no reason for me to remain here . . . next class I've got a free period, also. May I leave to study?" He inquired.****Snape shrugged, still checking potions. "I suppose so."****"Professor, I'm his partner--" Blaise started, sending Pansy into uproarious giggles at the possible double-meaning. "Perhaps I should . . .?"****"You may also go, I've seen your talent many times, Mr. Zabini. But I would like not to have it reported back to me that the two of you got into mischief from now until the time you would be out of this classroom. No one else goes." Snape sat back at his desk, glaring at random Gryffindors while Pansy pouted at having to make a potion when Draco and Blaise got out of it.****Draco tugged Blaise back to their rooms, chuckling because the hallways were empty and Blaise felt the overwhelming urge to push Draco into random walls and snog him senseless, often acting on these urges. They reached the Heads Dorms with over half an hour to spare before class would have ended.****"Okay, now . . ." Draco threw open the door to Hermione's room.****"Isn't this against the rules?" Blaise asked, entering the Gryffindor's room cautiously.****  
**

**  
****"Well, let's see. The rules were: Don't bother her while she's reading. Stay out of her way. She brings whoever she wants in. No PDA in the living room, she did say it belongs in my room, but it was not a rule that it didn't belong in hers. Besides, it's not PDA unless there's a public to display the affection for." With that, he pulled Blaise down onto the bed, flipped him on his back, and began kissing him thoroughly.****"Draco, this is so--" Blaise started, looking completely unsure.****"It's just fine." he shushed, kissing him hard to stop his protestations.****Things only progressed from there.**

All of a sudden Hermione got a sudden shock and she immediately knew that Draco had broken the rules. So she knew that he was going to suffer for breaking the agreement. _'I can't wait to find out what happens to him. She thought evilly.' _"Hermione are you okay? You jumped like you were on fire." Harry said looking at her with worry in his eyes.

"No. I'm fine." she said smiling broadly.

_'Malfoy is so screwed for messing with me and especially the agreement which stated no PDA outside his room. And especially not her room because she had put a charm in her room to notify her by a small shock, that didn't harm her, if something was wrong. So he probably did something in it for it to notify her. He should have thought of that before trying anything. She thought with a chuckle. I'm always prepared for anything. Well not everything.'_

Class ended a few minutes later so she told Harry and Ron that she would meet them later. Then she ran to the Head's room to see what mess Malfoy gotten himself in now.

**Draco finished and dressed quickly, no use lying around waiting for the Mud-blood when he could tell her about it. Blaise dressed in a flash, also, and they didn't bother straightening up the covers that were all over, though Draco was courteous enough to cast a cleaning charm on them. They walked into the living room and Draco sat on the couch, Blaise sitting right next to him, to wait until Granger would most likely come up to get her books and such after class.**

When Hermione reached the armor she put on a pissed off face and said the password.

"MALFOY! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO IN MY ROOM?!" Hermione thundered. Fire was blazing in her eyes. "YOU BETTER HOPE TO GOD THAT I DON'T FIND YOU BECAUSE THE PUNISHMENT WILL BE CASTRATION IF I DO!"

She finally saw him sitting on the couch with Blaise smirking. She was fuming; because she got the feeling that his punishment was not given. Hermione threw her books on the table and rounded up on them putting her hands in her pocket. Her wand was in her right pocket so she gripped it ready for a fight that was sure to happen if she did not calm down.

**"Hello, love." Blaise said, grinning openly at her. "You missed the show, I'm afraid. We could give you another chance to catch it, have to be in Draco's room later tonight . . ." He winked suggestively, trying to put his arm around Draco only to be shoved away.****"I must say I feel cheated, your bed is much softer than mine." Draco told her, attempting to get the hint across in case she hadn't already gotten it. He was smiling evilly. **

If she was pissed then, now would be ten fold. "You better not be fucking telling me that you had sex in my room, in my bed." she whispered dangerously. Hermione knew that was probably the reason why her room contacted her.

"You better be prepared for hell when I come back. Because I just put a spell on the dorm that no one may enter or leave without my permission, and if I find any evidence on my bed there will be even more dire consequences. Yes you too dear Blaise, and especially you Draco because now you broke another rule. The one that states if I find any evidence there will be punishment." she said in a tone that dripped murder. Even if she would never kill them she could punish them.

Then she turned to walk to her room.

**Draco cast a quick guarding shield around himself and Blaise, nonverbal but still with his wand, making it very strong. Blaise looked his way and he nodded, allowing him to tell her. "That's pretty much what I'm saying. Of course, there was much more to it, and I prefer to think of it as," He paused, fluttering his eyelashes. "Making love." He said in a breathless tone.****Draco snorted as though the very idea of him participating in such an act was unthinkable. "Yes, Granger. Your bed, already contaminated by your disgusting Muggle blood, now will forever carry the memory of our sweat and other substances that shouldn't be mentioned by civilized people, your mattress is now worse for wear from all it was made to take, and you will be sleeping on something I've "slept" on. Have I succeeded in disgusting you yet?" He gave her a smirk, licking his lips, as Blaise chuckled. They could both tell that Draco's use of air quotes had angered her even more.**

Hermione entered her room and saw that her bed was messy. She smiled because she just saw evidence that he had sex outside his room, and that was a violation of the agreement. _'I hope his punishment is that he can't have sex with anyone for a good week or two. That would kill him. She smiled evilly.'_ She cast the revealing charm and found that there were fluids on her sheets but she levitated them and burned the bed. Then cast a spell that would place a new one in its place. Then she turned around and walked down the stairs with a smirk on her face. But then turned around and closed her door setting it to be password protected. _'I should have done that earlier.'_

When she walked in front of them her smirk grew bigger and more evil. "Is that all you can come up with? Have sex in my bed and then tell me? I have to say that is pathetic. I expected more from you. I guess you are not worth anything. Oh! And I burned the bed and placed a new one, and now my room is password protected. So try getting through those spells and my room." with anger and amusement evident in her eyes.  


"I have to admit I wanted to throw up at the thought of your ugly ass having sex in my room. So I admitted it. But I expected you to do that. So predictable of you. I thought it was supposed to be a cruel and long punishment?" she asked with fake sweetness. She then turned to Blaise and said, "For your punishment Slytherin will lose a hundred points, and a weeks worth of detentions. For having sex in my private room. Yes it's cruel but I have every right because you broke into my room with Malfoy and had sex on my bed. And if I go to Prof. Dumbledore his punishment would be worse because he does not tolerate this kind of thing. Malfoy on the other hand will receive whatever punishment our agreement chooses for him. But I can assure you he will not do it again after his punishment." she said smirking. "Because he did break the rule that if I found evidence of sex in any part of the dorm other than his room, that he would be punished for breaking the agreement."

She then turned and walked back to her room, said her password and locked her door.

**Draco rolled his eyes. Oh yes, because he was really striving to keep his house going this year! How horrible, low points, it wasn't as if he wouldn't be docking Gryffindor all the time now that he had the power with Head Boy on his side. Now he'd just make sure to make up the points, give some to Blaise and himself for not tripping students in the hall and such.****"I don't understand why the Mud-blood doesn't come up with truthful insults." Blaise whispered to Draco. "I mean, **_**everyone**_** thinks you're damn gorgeous, she must know that 'ugly' won't exactly hit the mark."****Draco patted Blaise on the head, smiling to him. "I know, I know. Let her have her fun and feel like she's in power; I'm not getting punished because I didn't break any rules yet. And I don't plan on doing so, she's sure the consequence will be death-worthy, apparently."****Blaise leaned over to give him a kiss and Draco pulled him into his room first. "That was almost breaking a rule." he reminded him, pulling the other boy to him by the tie and smirking against his lips.****"I have a week's worth of detentions." Blaise groaned.****"And every night you can come back here and I'll make them worth it." Draco offered, smiling as innocently as was possible for a Slytherin.****Blaise bit his neck too quick for Draco to stop him, leaving a mark. "Now it's worth it." and with that he left.****A pale, elegant hand rose to the wound, covering it. Hell, now he'd be asked who it was from, it wasn't just a love-bite, but an actual bite mark, an indent surrounded by broken skin that stained his porcelain skin with purple-red blood. "Bastard." Draco whispered, walking out to see Hermione.****"I think we should set down what 'Public Displays of Affection' mean. Does . . . kissing count? Holding hands?" He asked, honestly needing to know so he could keep Blaise from making him violate the terms.**

Hermione heard his through the door. She was mad that he didn't receive his punishment. "What the fuck do you want?!" she yelled angrily through the door.

**"I want to speak with you and make sure you're not too angry, at the same time saving myself from future punishment by properly stating the boundaries of the rules." He answered without thought, and then looked about. That was odd. He never spoke before thinking, and he certainly didn't give that much detail. It was almost like the words had just come out without his will involved in it at all.****Draco had a sudden sinking feeling that this wasn't an accident; that the vow was now making sure he told Hermione the truth, possibly indefinitely, because he'd lied to her by breaking it. "Oh, no." he whispered. That was bad. That was very, very bad.****He then realized he'd left out a rule. No sex outside his room. **

She threw open the door and stared at him hard. "I'm angry as hell that you would have the audacity to do something like that. I would never have done that even if I was pissed off." she said angrily. Trying not to pummel him to death.

She didn't even notice that he was telling the truth and that that was his punishment.

**He found that as long as she didn't **_**ask**_** him anything, the want to tell her was bearable. But he still couldn't hold in the truth, so he'd just disguise it a bit. "Well, as much as I care about that, obviously I would." He said with a hint of malice in his voice. "Why don't you just button up about it, it's over and done, and tell me what the hell PDA means to you." He requested, though it didn't really matter with the vow already broken. Might as well just make her think that it was still going.**

"WHAT THE FUCK?! Now you fucking care about the rules?! I specifically told the two of you with a calm voice so you would have been able to hear me and now you come to realize that this is for real!" she screamed at his face.

**"Just be FUCKING GRATEFUL that I even care you filthy Mud-blood." He spat out, fighting against the vow that tried to direct his answers with his deep loathing of the girl before him. Draco was sneering, no matter how many times Pansy said it was unbecoming, because this time he couldn't help it, his emotions were running wild and he just wanted to pour out how much she was PISSING him off, bossing him about and acting so BLOODY power hungry! **

"Why?! You didn't seem to before!" she screamed back. "You know what! You are not worth my time! Go to hell! You should have paid attention to the rules because I am not going to re-tell you. SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!!" With that she slammed the door in his face and sank to the floor trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to come out. _'Why am I crying, he's called me Mud-blood before. So what is the difference now? I'm probably getting my period. Yeah that's probably it. She thought.'_

_**Why?!**_** Her voice echoed through his mind. A question needed an answer. He bit down on his fist, then took it out and whispered so she wouldn't hear "I don't **

**know." before grabbing his coat and leaving. He had to get away before she found out anything that mattered. **

Hermione was thankful that she heard him walk away. Now she could crawl into bed and cry herself to sleep.

_Dream __Hermione looked around and she saw that she was back in the same dream that she was before. But now it started to get dark and she felt like she was being watched.__"Hello! Is anyone there?" she said scared. She couldn't see anyone but she could feel a presence. All of a sudden she saw a hooded man standing in front of her. She screamed and tried to find her wand to protect herself. But she couldn't find it, she started to panic. __"Looking for this." said the hooded figure laughing cruelly.__Hermione instantly went pale. She immediately turned around and started running. But the figure yelled Crucio. The next thing she knew was that she was in excruciating pain. She screamed over and over for someone to help her, but no one came. "No one cares about a filthy little Mud-blood." said the hooded figure evilly.__End Dream_

Hermione woke up screaming again. It took her a while to figure out that she was safely in Hogwarts in her bed. _'I have got to stop these dreams before I scream myself to death. I wonder what the dream is trying to tell me. Oh well, let me hurry up and get ready to meet the guys and apologize for not seeing them yesterday when I told them I was. Then plan to get revenge on them for that little trick they pulled on King's Cross. Ginny would also love to get them back too. She thought.'_

**"Pansy, I don't bloody care if you think black makes me look too thin." He reminded her, not in the mood to listen to her jabber.****"Merlin, you're as whiny as Blaise today." Pansy replied nastily, shoving at him.****"He looks fabulous in black, stop antagonizing him." the brunette demanded of her, taking her arm.****"Oh, get off me." She shoved him into Draco. "The two of you, I swear . . ." But Pansy trailed off, looking about the hall and focusing on nothing specific. "Your father contacted me yesterday. He said he wanted to know if you had a window. Because we never had windows . . . not real ones in the dungeon." Pansy checked the owlery every day, unlike Draco, so when Lucius sent a real message he sent it to her and told her to relay the information to his son.****Draco sighed, still feeling shaken because of his earlier experience without will power. "Tell him I haven't got one." He told her, not wishing to hear from the man.****"But you have. Blaise told me so!"**

**"Tell him I HAVE NOT got one." Draco repeated firmly.****"Fine." She took a side hall, yelling back: "I'll leave you two alone, I haven't enough nerve to get through a day with two whiny prisses."****"I think she was insulting us." Blaise said.****"Obviously." Draco snapped.****"You're awfully rude today. Something go wrong with the Mud-blood?"****"No."****It was their free period, so Draco found himself next to the entrance of his dorms once again with Blaise, this time without thought. He let himself in, sitting on the couch but making sure Blaise was a foot away from him as he actually began to study.**

Hermione had gone to talk to the guys and apologized for missing dinner. She told them that she was studying and reading so she didn't see that the time flew by. Now they were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room talking about pranking each other.

Ginny was sitting next to Hermione. So Hermione leaned over while Harry and Ron were too busy talking about Quidditch, and said, "Ginny I got the perfect way to get them back." Hermione said excitedly.

"How?" Ginny said grinning madly.

Hermione whispered the instruction into her ear. "Okay." Ginny said smiling.

"Bye Harry, Ron. We'll see you later." Hermione said.

"Yeah." Ron said not noticing anything.

"Alright, bye." said Harry equally disinterested.

"Now Ginny." Hermione whispered.

All of a sudden Harry and Ron were being beaten up by feathery pillows that popped out of nowhere. Hermione and Ginny quickly ran out the portrait heading for the Head's dorm. They didn't stick around to get caught so they ran.

"That was awesome!" they yelled together.

Since they ran out quickly Harry and Ron weren't able to see where they had gone so the girls got away. Once they got to the suit of armor Hermione said the password and they both went in laughing hysterically thinking about the boys' reaction.

**"Would you mind bloody shutting up?" Blaise asked, annoyed that Draco had kept him strictly a foot away no matter how he tried to get closer. He looked over and noted the big welt he'd left on Draco's neck and was slightly cheered, realizing the boy had probably forgotten about it. "I'm trying to learn something." He told the **

**girls, though really he'd been staring from Draco to the window and back again in intervals since they'd gotten into the room and had thus-far failed to open his book.**

"You shut up Zabini. This is my dorm not yours." Hermione said annoyed. "Anyways like I was saying, here is the Common Room I have to share with Malfoy. To the left is his room, and to the right is mine. Come on let see. It's beautiful, and then I could show you the bathroom. It's soo gorgeous." Hermione told Ginny with a huge smile on her face. "The only bad thing is that I have to share it with Malfoy too." she said with a frown.

"Okay, let's go then!" Ginny smiled.

**"And no PDA in the living room. Or anywhere else imaginable." Blaise said unhappily, as if Ginny needed to know this.****Draco shot him a frantic, worried look and hit him with his knee. Blaise realized his folly and said. "Not like I'd . . . um, know, it's just that . . . in case you were thinking of bringing Potter in here, it's only allowed in Granger's room." He said, looking shifty and not lying well at all.****The blond tried to burry his unhappiness in his studying. **

Hermione turned around and walked up to him seething. "For your information you brain dead peace of worthless meat, Malfoy is the only one that can not show PDA in this dorm. I neglected to mention anything about any of my friends. So they can do whatever the hell they want. But of course they know better that to do it in my dorm cause I'll tell them off if they did, unlike you." She said, angry and disgusted.

Then she turned and walked up to Ginny and they went up to the stairs to Hermione's room.

**"Granger, the same does apply to you, because no one wants to see you or your friends snogging." Draco answered, and since he was being completely honest, the vow accepted this. "Really, though, I'd still like to know what PDA is."****"Touching another human life form when in the presence of a Mud-blood." Blaise answered, flipping through the pages of a magazine.****Draco took the magazine, throwing it into the fire. "Study and stop making stupid damn comments." He ordered.****"You're bloody pissing me off!" Blaise pushed Draco, his face contorted into a mask of fury and pain. "Just because you don't bloody feel anything doesn't mean no one else does!"****"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco bit out, losing his temper.****"Nothing." Blaise sat down in a chair near the bookshelf, looking the opposite way from him.****"That's mature." Draco muttered.**

**"Screw you." Blaise replied. "Oh, wait, I already have."****"God dammit, you just HAD to say that!" Draco threw down his book, his eyes flashing dangerously, molten silver.****"Yeah, I did! I don't see why you're hiding it anyway."****"Get the hell out." Draco demanded, pointing to the door.****Blaise rolled his eyes, obviously hurt, but stormed out anyway. The blond was breathing heavily through his nose, his arm dropped back to his side. **

Hermione peaked out the door and said, "Yes it does apply to me, but I was telling him the truth. Ginny has every right to show any PDA she wants because it does not apply to her. But she knows that she will not be doing that in my presence either. And the answer is NO. We have already covered that question yesterday." Hermione said then closed the door.

"So here is my room. And let me show you the bathroom." Hermione dragged Ginny into the bathroom.

"Wow! It's beautiful." Ginny said admiringly.

"I know!" Hermione replied.

"Have you been sneaking peaks at your hot new roommate?" Ginny said smirking.

"NO! That's just… disgusting." Hermione said blushing

"Hmhm! Yeah right. You know you want to. I heard he has a hot body." Ginny said laughing at Hermione's reaction. "Just kidding."

"No you weren't. Oh! I forgot that we have to get back to Harry and Ron. They are probably out trying to find us. Like they would even try to check here." Hermione said with a smile.

"You know Hermione, Ron has had a crush on you for the longest time. Maybe you should be friendlier to him." Ginny said winking suggestively.

"Ginevra Weasley! How can you think like that?" Hermione giggled. "I'll think about it okay?"

"Alright." said Ginny. The girls started heading down the stairs thinking of places where the boys would have looked for them...

**Blaise sat on the ground near the Great Hall doors, staring at his hands and just thinking over everything that had happened all summer. Stupid Draco and his stupid insecurities. And that stupid Mud-blood's stupid rules. He sighed to himself.****Draco, on the other hand, was sitting on the couch, then standing and pacing, then sitting down again. As long as Hermione was around, all they seemed to do was fight. Well, they also had sex, but that happened anyway. He'd only fought with Blaise once before they got to Hogwarts, and now he couldn't seem to get along with him. He rubbed at his face, trying to think of an excuse for going down and looking for the boy or searching out SOMEONE else, when a knock sounded at the **

**door.****He opened it to find Pansy was on the other side of the armor. "He says he can only knock, he can't let me in." She told him.****"You can let her in now." Draco spoke to the suit of armor, which obliged, and Draco told her the password.****"What's wrong?" She asked, not expecting an answer.****"Blaise is what's wrong. Whenever he doesn't get his way he runs off. Screw him."****"You al-"****"Not you, also!" Draco pleaded, sitting down and taking a deep breath. That damn vow was just making him very emotional, he reasoned. It was also making him think of Granger too damn much.****"No, not me." Pansy sighed. "Come on, let's go search for the Drama Queen."****"No. You go, bring him by later if he'll come."****Pansy shook her head, grinning and giggling for a second in a way that suggested she'd just had a dirty thought she wasn't about to share, but she simply nodded and left him to his worrying.**

Hermione and Ginny were looking for Harry and Ron. "Ginny the password to my dorm is 'Friendship', don't forget to tell Harry and Ron too." Hermione said.

"Sure." Said Ginny.

They found them eating lunch at the Great Hall so Ginny and Hermione sat down next to them.

"Hi, how are you doing?" Hermione smiled wickedly.

"As if you don't know. You two are in for it later." Harry said suggestively.

"Really what do you plan on doing?" Ginny asked.

"You'll have to wait and see." Said Ron smirking.

"Did you two finish you homework? Cause I'm not going to let you copy it this year." Hermione warned.

"Hermione it's only the third day, calm down. And yes we sort of have it finished." Harry said guiltily.

"Well you two better get it done soon." Hermione said sternly.

"Yes ma'am." They replied.

**Draco didn't make it to lunch, instead he sat holed up in his room, reading spells from his textbook. Something that, had any lesser being done it, would have been called 'sulking'. **

After lunch Hermione told Ginny to meet her in her dorm after dinner so she could tell her about what happened the night before. Hermione dragged Ron and Hermione to their next class which was Transfiguration.

"Today we will be transforming mice into mirrors. The spell to do so is called _Mirrolius_. (I made it up.) Now follow my wand movements." Professor McGonagall said. The class did so. "Now practice it with your mouse." Prof. McGonagall said.

The class erupted in noise, of people trying out the spell.

Hermione successfully turned her mouse into an 8' x 11'' mirror on the third try. "Well done Miss Granger! Ten points to Gryffindor." Prof. McGonagall said approvingly. Since Hermione turned her mouse into a mirror in a short amount of time she decided to help Harry and Ron, who were failing miserably.

"No! You do it this way." she said sternly. Then showed Ron the hand movement for the tenth time. "Now you try it." Ron was still having trouble with it. "Ron, are you even concentrating? Harry got it after the fifth time and you still haven't transfigured your mouse yet. I know you can do so concentrate." Hermione said.

When Ron tried it again he transformed the mouse into a mirror. "See I told you, you could do it." Hermione said happily.

"Yeah, after telling me off and yelling at me." Ron said with a smile, happy that he got the job done.

"Hmpf. I resent that comment. I did not yell at you, all I did was give you constructive criticism." Hermione said reproachfully.

**Blaise was talking to him again, which Draco figured he should be glad of, but frankly he was just irritated that Pansy hadn't decided not to talk to him. Or suddenly take on a vow of silence. Or die, at this point.****"Every three and a half seconds I kindly tell you to shut it, and you just glare and continue." Draco pointed out.****"Meaning that your interruptions are not appreciated nor are they necessary, Transfigure your stupid mirror and butt out." She turned back to Blaise and they continued their talk of boys and disturbing things he didn't want to think off, plus some things that made it hard to think of anything else.****Draco tried his best, but transfiguration had to be his worst lesson ever, he just never got the visualization of the new product. He'd sit and flick and think the magic should do it for him, if he had the right motion and word pronunciation, because as a spoiled brat he'd never had to really do any more than learn technicalities and etiquette . . . so having to actually think of making or doing something for himself wasn't in his agenda.****"Why would I **_**ever**_** need to use this? I can buy a damn mirror, I'm bloody rich." **

**Draco groaned, still unable to understand the procedure and getting no help from his gossiping friends (who had already completed the task). **

"Mr. Malfoy if you needed help with this assignment then why didn't you just ask. Miss Granger please help him with the assignment." Prof. McGonagall said with a slight frown.

"But.." Hermione began.

"No buts Miss Granger. Go help him." Prof. McGonagall said firmly, suggesting that the conversation was over.

"Yes ma'am." Hermione said grudgingly. _'Why would she do this? Doesn't she know that we will end up tearing each other apart? Apparently not. She thought angrily.'_

She slowly walked to Malfoy's table glaring at him the whole time as if it were his fault.

**"Just sit over there and pretend you're a silent, still tree, Granger. I'll get it, and I really don't need **_**your**_** help." He elbowed Blaise, whom he decided to blame, because really if he'd gotten the help he needed from his friends then Granger wouldn't be there breathing his air. **

"You want to play that way then fine." she told him angrily. "Prof. McGonagall, Malfoy refuses to accept my help, what should I do about it?"

"Well he can choose whether to fail the assignment or accept your help." Prof. McGonagall said indignantly.

**"Bloody damn hell!" Draco said under his breath, clenching his jaw. "Fine, Granger. Teach me the mighty ways of Transfiguration." He resigned himself to a fate of wanting to kill her, but being unable to do so. Unless he could pretend the curse had just sliiiipped out while he was trying to-- but no, there were too many witnesses.**

"Okay." Hermione said brightly. She did love Transfiguration. " Follow my wand moments. I will go slow cause I now that you are retarded in transfiguring things." she said smirking. "Then say _Mirrolius_. So try it." _'Hmm. He looks sort of cute when he's angry. Whoa! Stop right there you did not just think that! He is an evil git so he's not in anyway cute. Whatever. Hermione said fighting her conscious.'_

**"I am no-" A choking feeling came up, and his word cut off. Apparently even the vow thought he was very, very bad at Transfigurations. He didn't think he needed Hermione's help specifically, still. He coughed to cover the choke. "Whatever." He tried to follow the movement, making it a bit too flashy, and said 'Mirrolius' perfectly, still nothing happened. He tried again. And again. "Damnit!"**

"Here let me show you." Hermione said then grabbed his hand to do the movements for him. _'Hmm. He also has soft skin. Is it getting warm in here or is it just me. Not again Hermione, you have got to stop this before you get an unnecessary crush on him. She thought.'_ She blushed slightly.

**Draco tugged his hand away from her as if burned. "I'm fi-" Again his voice cut off. "I can do it by-" He began coughing. "My wand movement isn't the problem." So that was at least the truth. He took a deep gulp of air, fighting back the feeling of warm, soft skin against his. **

"Malfoy, believe me I hate touching you as much as you do, but this is the only thing I can think of to help you. So stop being a big baby and give me your hand." she said with finality. _'Why does he keep cutting off his words? Could it be the punishment? Nah. That sounded too tame. Not being able to finish sentences. That definitely wasn't the punishment, but she sure as hell was going to find out what the hell was wrong with him, and soon. She thought.'_

"Oh! I forgot to tell you that Prof. Dumbledore said that we have to patrol Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9pm to midnight. And two prefect meetings a month." she remembered.

**"No!" He pulled his hands to his chest, the sound of the immature proclamation making Blaise turn and give him an odd look.****"Just do it, Draco. Get it over with and you can come talk with me." He smiled.****"In that case I'll just stay over here, you two are monotonous." Draco shot back.****Blaise rolled his eyes. "Do you want me to help you instead? You know what a bad teacher I am."****Draco tried to say 'Couldn't be worse than the Mudblood.' but it just came out as a series of coughs.****"Are you alright?" Blaise asked, looking worried.**

"Fine be that way, it's your grade." Hermione said walking away. "And go to Madame Pomfrey for that cough." She said over her shoulder.

**"Alright! Fine, help me." Draco said, putting his hand out to her but refusing to look as he pulled a face. **

Hermione turned around and walked back to him. She stood next to him and grabbed his hand, then she started doing the correct wand movements. "You have to do the right wand movements and you want to be clear when you say the spell." she said concentrating on getting his hand to do what she wanted.

**"I get it!" He snapped, doing as she'd shown him and hoping to Merlin that she'd just stop touching him (for multiple reasons, all of which he decided not to think of). He did the motion again and pronounced the spell specifically as she'd shown him, then remembering something his mother had said to him long ago. 'You've got to see it to get it, sometimes. You've got to be able to believe.' and he imagined it changing. Imagined the mouse transforming into a tall mirror.****In that instant he knew it was working, and sure enough, a perfect silver mirror stood before him on a stand. "Not bad." Draco said, checking his reflection. "My hair looks lovely today." He flattened it a bit where a piece curved outward, then winked at himself. "Looking good." His reflection assured him. Draco blew it a kiss and floated it across the class to the long row of mirrors that were going to be checked by McGonagal for tails, whiskers, and squeaking later. **

"Well done! Now I'm leaving because I have to burn my skin of your nastiness." she said holding her hands out as if her hands were contaminated. Then turned around and walked briskly back to Harry and Ron smiling evilly.

**Draco refrained from commenting, cast a cleansing spell on his hands, and moved nearer to Blaise for the reminder of the lesson.**

For Hermione the day went by fast. Soon she was eating dinner with her friends.

"Hermione, did you really hold Malfoy's hand?" Ginny exclaimed excitedly.

"Well technically yes. But I was trying to teach him how to do the spell properly. It's not my fault he's a complete idiot." Hermione said laughing. It was evident that the encounter with Malfoy spread around the school like wildfire.

"Mhmh. Whatever Hermione." Ginny said sarcastically.

"It's true." Hermione said, slightly blushing. _'Again with the damn blushing! I need to stop this madness. She thought.'_

They were laughing and talking for the rest of dinner.

"Come on Ginny it's time for us to go. Bye guys." Hermione said.

"Wait! How come you guys are hanging out so much, and your never with us." Harry said pouting.

"Yeah. What do you do?" Ron asked.

"Well we've been talking about which guys in Hogwarts have the best bodies." Ginny said winking suggestively at Harry. Harry blushed and winked back.

"Well why didn't you just tell us that. We could have shown you our hot bods, and then it would have been over then." Ron said smirking.

Hermione leaned closer to Ron on the other side of the table and said, "Because we have already seen you two and we want to widen our horizons." Hermione said smiling in Ron's 

face.

"As long as the guy keeps his hands to himself there will be no problem." Harry said seriously.

"Okay. Bye." Ginny said.

"See you later." Hermione said. They headed towards the Head's dorm to chat about the previous night.

**Draco had the house elves bring him and Blaise up some food then sat on the couch. At first it was gossip, idle talk, some deeper, but now it had fallen into a comfortable quiet. This was only achieved by good friends, people who had known each other so long they weren't uncomfortable just sitting back and listening to the air, soaking up each other's presence.**

When Hermione and Ginny entered the Common Room they found Malfoy and Zabini sitting on the couch. The girls just walked on to Hermione's room as if they didn't even see them.

Hermione purposefully said out loud, "You should have been there. I was laughing my ass off the other night. Malfoy was soo pissed off that he couldn't get laid because I had bound Zabini and summoned their wands." They started laughing so much that they had to stop at the top of the stairs to take a breath.

**Draco stood and Blaise grabbed his wrist, but Draco tore away from him. "I'm going to kill her." he told Blaise.****"No, you're not." He appeared strangely pleased as he pulled at Draco's shoulders in an attempt to keep him from running after Hermione.****"Yes, I am!" Draco pushed Blaise so hard he fell back, then turned and walked to the end of the stairs, refusing to get any closer to her. Then he found he couldn't speak. He wanted to tell her what a horrible creature she was. He wanted to tell her how he wished she'd just drop dead. He was sure it was true, so why was the vow silencing him?****Blaise grabbed his arm, spun him, and shoved him into the end-table, which Draco promptly fell over, hitting his head on the floor. "What the hell was that?"****"You pushed me!" Blaise stated as if it was unbelievable.****Draco stood and shoved Blaise into the wall, taking out his anger and aggression from not being able to say what he wanted, do what he wanted, on Blaise. Blaise hit the stones, his skull making an odd sound and blood trickled down his neck.****Blaise looked at him as though he was in shock, then punched Draco directly in the mouth, swelling and splitting his bottom lip.****Without a wand and silently, so that the spell wasn't very powerful, Draco cast a stupefy on Blaise, then allowed him to fall to the ground, feeling a sickening **

**amount of satisfaction.****He turned back, walked toward Hermione, blood trickling from his plush pink lips to the floor, his hair mussed, and said. "I can't fucking believe you. I thought Gryffindors had some form of morals, but I guess when it comes down to it, girls are just bloody girls." **

"First off, I can tell whatever I want to whomever I feel like it because you did not say it in the agreement. And I don't know why you are mad; you said that if I did tell anyone that it would only give you more fame. Second I was only planning on telling Ginny. And thirdly why the hell did you do that to Zabini?" Hermione told him angrily. Hermione and Ginny ran past Malfoy to check on Zabini. No matter how much she disliked Zabini she still didn't want to see him or anyone hurt.

**"It's just a stupefy, and a light one, he'll be fine." Draco sighed. "Fine. Screw it. Tell EVERY-FUCKING-ONE. I'm tired of fighting it." He did look tired, perhaps closer to exhausted, his cheek purple from when he'd hit the ground. His tongue flicked out to check the damage of his lip, and then he turned, kneeled, and enervated Blaise.****The brunet groaned as he opened his eyes, and in them Draco found a sort of distrust he'd never experienced coming from Blaise. It was the sort of look normally given to him by those who heard his name and thought 'Death Eater'. "All we ever do is fight." He said, standing and dusting himself off, wincing at the pain in his head and silently casting a pain-relief spell until he could get it checked out. "Come find me when you get your head on straight."****And with that he was gone.****Draco stood. He forgot himself and bit his lip for a second, actually having a hard time keeping on his mask as he nodded, his nostrils flaring momentarily to give away his sudden urge to just lay down and cry. It wasn't just for Blaise, but part of it was. Not just because they'd fought, but because of the reason behind the fighting. Because it wasn't fair.****He turned back to Hermione and Ginny, steadying himself for an attack, and blinking to keep any excess moisture at bay. He was NOT going to even look like he was thinking about crying. Not around anyone, definitely not around Gryffindors.**

"Ginny can you leave us alone, I'll see you tomorrow." Hermione said turning to her.

"No Hermione did you just see him. He's out his damn mind." she said shrilly.

"Please go Ginny, I'll be fine. I just have to talk to him and get things straightened out." Hermione said pleading for her to leave so she could find out what the hell is wrong with Malfoy.

"Fine. But don't say that I didn't warn you." Ginny said angrily and left.

Hermione looked at him feeling guilty about what she told Ginny. "Malfoy why are you 

taking your anger out on innocent people? Zabini may not be totally innocent but he didn't do anything to you. You could have hurt him badly." she said gently looked him straight in the eyes, slightly afraid of what he might do. And also because she saw in his eyes the vulnerability that he was trying to conceal.

**Draco looked to the floor to his right, a blank piece of carpet. He swore again that if one tear so happened to fall down his face, he would jump off the astronomy tower. "You don't know anything about him." He said in a whisper, not trusting his voice. Draco cleared his throat, trying to nonchalantly sniff and wipe under his eye. "It was your-" He couldn't blame it on her, the vow wouldn't let him, so he sniffled again and told himself he had suddenly become allergic to something in the room, it had nothing to do with being hurt. "He knew what he was getting into."**

"Draco Lucius Malfoy! You know for a fact that that is not true. If you feel something for him then go after him, because you are on the verge of tears. And no matter who it is I hate to see people cry." she said angrily, also hurt that she had no chance of being with him now. But she would never admit that though. Then Hermione caught on to something that wasn't there before. _'Hold on a sec! Why does he keep cutting off his sentences when he's about to insult me? OMG! I got it! It must be the punishment. He can't tell lies. That must be hard for him. I'll ask him if that's his punishment. She thought.'_

It didn't take her long to figure out what the punishment was. _'I should have noticed it before. To think I'm supposed to be a know-it-all. She thought.'_

**"I was not about to--" Yes, he was about to cry, the vow said. "I feel nothi--" Oh, god, he was going to have a panic attack. He could not have Hermione Granger, or anyone, know what he felt, what he thought. He willed himself to calm down. If he could just calm down, get his throat to stop constricting his words, then he would be just fine. "I refuse! I will most certainly **_**not**_** cry, I am not a girl and I am going to be seventeen!" He looked up at her only for a second, then away again, walking over to the window and sitting on the bench he was sure was his.****Draco decided not to think about Blaise or anything else. He would just sit and stare outside, and maybe Hermione wouldn't pry. He doubted it, but it was a chance.**

"Why are you being so difficult? All I'm trying to do is help you, but since you don't want my help, fine! But answer me this question: Is telling me the truth your punishment?" she said angrily, hurt that he was still being this way.

_'I wish we had a chance to be best friends again, or possibly more. Damn me and my crush! I still have that damned crush! I thought it would go away. Apparently not, she huffed. I better think of something else before I tell him something that I might regret later. Wait! If he says yes then I could ask him some personal questions, and if the answers match mine then there might be a chance that we could be together, because I know that he can be all the qualities I look for; since we did grow up with each other. If not then Ron is still my second choice. He is a great guy, she thought.'_

**"N . . . No." He tried, praying he could keep it that way. The words ripped themselves out of him, though. "Yes." Draco gasped, eyes wide with fear. Damnit. She knew. He looked away, outside. She was a Gryffindor, she wouldn't do it . . . **

Hermione's honey brown eyes were round with shock. She was happy because now she could ask him the questions that she wanted to, and scared that he may not be the same Draco she knew.

"Um...okay." she said hesitantly. "I'm only going to ask you a few questions so you don't have to worry about me prying too much into your life." she said staring at him.

"Uh... What made you bisexual? Wait let me rephrase that. How is it you became a bisexual? And please don't be too perverted." she asked, then blushed at what she asked.

**Draco growled, unhappy at having her digging at him for answers. He could practically feel her fingers poking and sifting through his thoughts and memories, dragging them out of him regardless of his wishes. He leaned against the glass heavily. "I didn't 'become' bisexual." He snapped. The vow told him to tell her what she wanted to know, not just what she'd asked, and he couldn't refuse it.****"Blaise kissed me last year." He admitted in a mumble, fighting back a smile that came from the memory to keep her from thinking he was enjoying this. "I didn't really think anything of it, he does that sort of thing, but he said he didn't think we could be friends anymore, because he fancied me." A deep, quiet sigh fogged the window. "That's when I realized I fancied him, also. Well, I wanted him, at least. And after my mind was open to it, I found that I'd always looked at boys differently than a 'straight' boy would. I could want one just the same as a girl. Blaise told me it wasn't possible, Pansy told me it was 'bisexual'." He revealed.****Draco looked up to her, his eyes ice, waiting for the next exposure. That one wasn't bad. If she told anyone, there would be hell to pay… well, as long as his father didn't find out he supposed he'd get on fine.**

"Well at least you're not the only one thinking the same sex is appealing." she said then regretted saying that. She was blushing madly. Hermione walked to the furthest spot in the room and sat on the floor staring at her hands.

"Anyways. Uh... don't get mad at me for this, I'm only going to ask it because Harry has been non stop with this. Are you a Death Eater?" she asked.

_**No, no, no, no . . . **_**His mind whispered, begging him to stop. **_**Don't speak. Don't. Sit. Stay. Quiet. Breathe.**_** Draco was tense, biting his lip so hard it started bleeding again. His jaw suddenly opened, slowly, and he gasped. **_**Shit.**_** "No." He said, holding in the rest, but knowing it would still find its way out. "Not yet." It came as a whisper; he grasped his lower left forearm, rubbing it without thought. If there was ever a word to describe the many emotions flitting behind his eyes, it was 'haunted'. **

"WHAT?!" Hermione said alarmed. "What do you mean by "not yet"? When are you supposed to get the mark?" She demanded. _'I have to help him before something terrible happens. She thought scared.'_

**"I don't know." He told her, not even trying to fight the iron will of the vow. "Soon. When I'm a full wizard. When the Dark Lord takes power. I really don't know. And it isn't any of your business." The last was said just to make sure she didn't think this made them all buddy-buddy. He planned to get her back for this some how. **

Hermione looked ready to faint. _'Oh God! That's soon. I have to tell Prof. Dumbledore now. She thought frantically, fear evident in her eyes.'_

"Okay. Two more questions and then I'll leave." she said nervously. "Do you regret not being friends anymore? And if you had a second chance would you take it?" she looked at the floor hoping that he didn't see the tears starting to form in her eyes. _'I have to leave soon before I start crying. She thought rapidly.'_

**"'Leave' had better not mean 'leave' as in take my secrets elsewhere, Granger." Draco warned. He took a deep breath, thinking over the questions, this was one the vow would let him search for. "I don't live with regrets." He was very good at compartmentalizing, and he tossed these feelings out, along with guilt and remorse. "But if I did . . . I'm not sure. I suppose." She was picking at an old wound, one he'd thought was healed over, but maybe this would lead to fresh bleeding. "It was not my choice to make, and therefore not mine to regret."****He paused again, pondering. "My friends would not approve. Neither would my family, or the Dark Lord." He stared directly into her eyes for the first time since Blaise left. "With the same option as last time, I think so. There is so much at stake." Draco tried to show her what he meant, that it was not just himself he was worried for, but he wasn't very good at conveying such things, neither in words nor in glances. This would protect him, this would protect her, and this would protect his family. It was the right choice.****But that didn't mean it didn't hurt.**

_'I guess he does blame me, who wouldn't. She thought sadly.' _"I have to go." Hermione said as she started walking out the Common Room. She couldn't look at his face because then he'd see more than just pain, and she didn't want to look weak in front of him or anyone for that matter. _'I need some time to think this through. And I need some fresh air. Don't forget to have space to be alone to cry. Stop it conscience! What it's true. Whatever.'_

**He almost asked her not to tell anyone. Not to give away his secrets. Not to allow them inside his carefully-built walls.****And worse than that, he almost asked her to stay. Draco told himself it was because she knew these things about him, that she was now dangerous away from him, and he tried to believe this. "Where are you going?" It just slipped out, and that it did didn't seem a tragedy at the moment. **

"No where important." she said softy over her shoulder barely containing her tears. Afraid that if she sad it any louder he would know she was so close to crying. _'Oh God I can't take this right now. She thought.'_ Hermione ran out the room and out in the corridor. _'I hope he can't find me cause then I won't be able to hold back the pain I have caused myself and him. How could I be so stupid thinking that he wanted to be friends again?'_ She started crying.

**Draco rose, looking surprised, but didn't follow. Again helping everyone, because some of his secrets were definitely best left in his mind alone . . . but also probably hurting her, to let her flee when so obviously upset. He shrugged off the thought.****If he could leave Blaise, loyal to him, he could leave a Mud-blood who had hated him for more than six years. Let her come back if she wanted anything of him, because he wasn't about to be the one to go out on a limb and risk it all. That was a job for Gryffindors, which he certainly was not.****But he did need to leave. He decided to go find Blaise, make sure he took care of himself, get him looked after and apologize. Well, he wouldn't actually say he was sorry, but Blaise would understand. Blaise always understood.****Draco pulled on a warmer coat then left the Common Room. If he happened upon Hermione on the way . . . but he was sure he wouldn't. He began his walk to his first destination, the Hospital Wing.**

Hermione stopped running and now she walking to the Astronomy Tower . When she got there she sat in the corner, her head in her hands sobbing. "Why! Why did I have to start having feelings for him." she cried out. "Of course he wouldn't care about you. He only cares about himself." She wished that she could turn back time that way she could fix all the mistakes she's done, she felt powerless and heartbroken.

Hermione continued crying until she could cry no more. Which so happened to be about an hour later. She looked at her watch it said 11:30 pm. _I should be heading back. It's already late and past curfew._ She started heading towards her room, hoping to God nobody ran into her. _'That's all I would need, someone asking me why I am crying. I hope Draco won't make me hold his secret cause I know for a fact that I can't hold a secret so it would end up around the school in a heart beat, instead of just Prof. Dumbledore knowing. Well see.'_

**It turned out Blaise had gotten Pansy to do a minor healing spell and fix him up. He lay on his side in his dorm bed; his open eyes the only clue that he was not asleep.****"Blaise . . ." Draco whispered.****Dark brown eyes met his; filled with so much emotion they seemed almost empty. He didn't say anything.****"I just wanted to check . . . that you were doing alright."****"I'm fine." Blaise replied stiffly.****"I--I didn't mean to, you know."****"Yes." The other boy melted slightly, a small, forgiving smile like that of a kicked puppy settling onto his face. He and Draco were still together specifically because he seemed to be able to take anything Draco could dish out. "Sorry I hit you, love."****Draco let the pet name slide for once, smirking back and sitting on the edge of his bed. "I know."**

**"How'd it go? After I left, I mean. Did they hex you? Are you okay?" Blaise sat up, tracing a finger along the purpled bruise. "Merlin, I'm so sorry."****"I'm fine." Draco reassured, pulling Blaise to him and awkwardly embracing him until the brunet relaxed against his side, hiding his face in Draco's shoulder long enough to take a deep breath before sitting back.****"Good. And they didn't do anything to you?" His eyes searched Draco's.****"No." He lied. Even to Blaise, at times, he had to. He couldn't tell Blaise he'd told about the Mark, and he didn't want to admit defeat by saying he'd broken the vow.****Blaise caught the lie, as he always did, and Draco saw the spark of recognition before the deep brown eyes swallowed it hungrily up. "Good." He said again.****"I'm going to go sleep. See you in the morning?" Draco proposed.****"I'll wake you up." Blaise promised, smiling as he gave him an extended, sweet kiss.****With that Draco walked back to the Common Room.**

It was dark walking through the corridor so she murmured lumos and she kept on walking with her wand lit.

_'Why did I have to ask him those questions? See what you get for making that damned vow. You put him on the spot, and when he told you what he thought, which by the way is the truth because of the vow, you don't like the answer. So you leave him, by the way that is the second time you do that. When are you going to learn forgiveness? Hermione's conscious scolded.' _

_'I don't know I'm so confused! What am I going to do with the fact that pretty soon he's going to become a Death Eater? She thought angrily.' _

_'Do what you think is right but don't forget to listen to your heart. Because if one of those is forgotten it can lead to serious consequences. Her conscious stated firmly, but also warning her.' _

_'I have to cancel the vow. It's only ruin both our lives. I'll tell him tomorrow. Ugh! I need sleep. I'll think about it all tomorrow. She thought ignoring her conscious completely.'_

If someone were to walk by her they would see a girl walking with her arms around herself shivering from the cold. Looking like she was just crying and thinking deeply. And if they looked at her face they would see pain and indecision, but the on thing that would give her away was her honey brown eyes. Which showed too many emotions to count, starting with anger, sadness, loneliness, happiness, and bitterness.

When Hermione finally reach the dorm she said the password, and walked straight to her room. '_It's late so he probably went to bed. Good cause I need a shower before bed. Damn! I forgot that patrolling starts Friday, which is tomorrow. Ahh! Can this day get any worse? Thank God the week is almost over. She thought relieved.'_

**Draco blinked tiredly, looking over to the closing door while leaning against the **

**window. "All right?" He asked half-heartedly, eyelids drooping then flicking back up. He was sure he was missing something, but he hadn't gotten much sleep lately and it was really starting to take a toll.**_**Alright. Look at the surroundings, then whatever I'm not seeing will show itself.**_** He blinked again, slowly, and looked quickly around, then at Hermione. She looked different than she usually did. He was fairly sure her eyes weren't usually bloodshot or pained, nor did she cross her arms around herself when not carrying a stack of books. Hmm.****His shoulders slumped as he looked at her curiously, trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong. **_**She seems . . . sad.**_** Draco though sluggishly. **_**What a Gryffindor, unable to hide her feelings.**_** A flash of memory, one he usually kept at bay, tucked away in one of the many compartments in his mind, showed itself almost too quickly for him to catch. One with himself laughing and a girl with brown eyes and frizzy brunette hair, a secret told. A secret kept. In those days it hadn't seemed so wrong; it had been a comfort to allow someone brief glimpses of himself.****Now those times were gone and only those who could delve deeply into his icy eyes, stare at and tear through his frozen heart would ever know a thing about him. He almost, almost smiled at the thought of how only warm brown eyes seemed able to melt him, first hers, now Blaise's. With friendship, and now with passion.**

Hermione walked through the dorm entrance she didn't even see Draco there, because she was so wrapped up in her memories. She walked up to her room and went inside, she then walked up to her dresser and collected her baby pink tank top and her baby blue boy short to go take a bath before bed.

In the bathroom she filled up the bathtub with warm water and various soaps from a few taps. She set her towel and clothes on the rack next to the bathtub for easy reach. Then she stripped and got in the water.

_'Hmm. This feels good.'_ she thought groggily. _'I wish I could stay here forever.'_ She started scrubbing her hair with her lavender shampoo, rinsed and put some conditioner. And started cleaning herself. Waiting for her hair to soak up the conditioner.

_'What should I do about his secret? I won't be able to keep it to myself for long. Grrr! I wish I never asked him when he was going to receive the mark. Now he's going to expect for me to keep it to myself, when he knows I can't. I wish I had someone to ask for advice on what to do, cause I definitely can't ask him. ' _She thought confused.

**If there was one thing Draco hated more than Harry Potter, it was being ignored. It drove claws of rage and thoughts of revenge throughout him, and usually didn't bode well with whoever ignored him. He stood, attempting not to trudge as he felt very heavy, and walked into his room. He raised his hand to angrily knock at the bathroom door, then thought better of it. It wouldn't solve anything. She hadn't (probably) done it on purpose.****He'd talk to her in the morning.****With that promise to himself, he lay down on his bed and quickly drifted off to **

**sleep. **

Hermione finished rinsing herself, then got out and wrapped her towel around herself and went into her room to get dressed._ 'I feel a bit better. Like I rinsed all my problems away. Let's see what tomorrow brings me. Just put a strong face and my head held high.'_ she thought.

Then she got into bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

**Draco woke the next morning feeling stiff and sore, but rested. With a sigh he threw off his blankets and entered the bathroom, yawning and running a hand through his hair as he turned on the shower, stripped, and got into the hot water. Much better. Clean and no longer sore, he wrapped a towel around his hips and began combing through his drying blond hair. **

Hermione woke up cranky and not really rested, because she had a lot of nightmares of the hooded man trying to kill her. _'When is that dream going to end? I hate it! I never get enough sleep!' _she thought angrily.

Hermione, forgetting that she was only wearing a small tank top and boys shorts, opened the door to the bathroom yawning. But immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw Malfoy half naked. She blushed deeply and turned around and ran back into her room and slammed the door shut._'OMG! Did I just see Malfoy half naked? YES! And he has a hot body! Quidditch did him good.'_ she thought smiling. All thoughts about her nightmares forgotten for the moment. **"That's why civilized people knock, Granger." He called, sounding slightly irritated. Draco hadn't seen her, but the door's opening and closing had made it evident she had tried to enter.****Well, if she'd done it purposely, he hoped she'd gotten the glimpse she wanted.****"My, don't you look stunning?" The mirror asked rhetorically.****Yes, he thought so also. With a final stroke of his comb, he decided to get done with whatever talking he needed to with Hermione, then go and find Blaise. They had made up, so he might as well enjoy the perks of their pseudo-relationship.****Draco exited the bathroom, dressed quickly, and left his room for the common room.**  
When Hermione heard him leave the bathroom she went in brushed her teeth and took a quick shower. Then she went back to her room to get her school bag and headed out her room._ 'I wish Malfoy would dump Zabini and go out with me. pouts I think we are so perfect together. Oh well a girl could hope.'_ she thought.

**"So. I suppose we'll have to talk at some point." Draco said, tensing in the armchair he sat in. **

Hermione jumped clutching her heart; she didn't see him sitting in the armchair. She was hoping that this conversation was going to happen later instead of sooner, but I guess things don't always go the way you want them. She blushed slightly remembering his rock hard chest. "Yeah, I guess so." she said sitting in the couch across from him.

**"And . . .?" He inquired, forcing her to start the talk as he smoothed his immaculate robes to his torso. **

_'Gosh I wished he wouldn't do that! It's distracting. Focus Hermione and stop looking.'_ she thought. "Oh no! Don't try to make me start the 'discussion' because you were the one who wanted to talk not me. " She said with air quotation.

**Draco quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I've got better places to be, so if there is no 'necessary discussion', I think we're done here." He began to stand up, doing so slowly to allow her time to stop him if she so wanted. **

"Okay. I only have one thing to say then. Even tough I hate to say this but I'm sorry for prying into your secrets and forcing you to answer. And I hear by stop the vow, which means you should no longer be under the vow. I think. Anyways I have to go." Hermione stated and briskly walked toward the door heading for breakfast. _'Hmm. That went well.'_ she inwardly smiled.

**Draco fell back against the chair, tension he hadn't known was there dropping away. It was as if everyone had been screaming for hours and hours, and suddenly there was a blissful quiet. The feeling of someone stirring up his thoughts and pulling forth his secrets disappeared, replaced by a soothing cloud of comfort that was being alone in his own mind.****No more Vow. Never again. A lop-sided smile lit his face for a moment, before he left to find Blaise, who had failed to wake him up. **

Hermione walked out the door and proceeded to walk to the Great Hall. _'Should I go to Prof. Dumbledore? Yes! But how am I going to explain how I know? You should have thought of that before you stopped the vow.'_ she mentally argued with herself.  
**Blaise was rushing toward the Heads Dorm when Draco found him. "Sorry, Lovie, Theo thought it a great idea to see how long he could keep me stuck in bed by jinxing the curtains around my bed closed." He explained, opening his arms.****Draco shook his head and kept walking, aware of the glances they were receiving. "Fantastic idea for him." He murmured.****Blaise looked hurt for a moment, really, actually hurt. But, as with all emotions, his own and everyone else's', they disappeared a moment later, tempting those who witnessed them to think it merely a trick of the light. "Yeah, I guess it was."****They walked the rest of the trip to breakfast in silence.**

When Hermione walked into the Great Hall, her face was expressionless. She spotted Harry and Ron and proceeded to sit in between them. "Hey guys. How's it going?" she asked and started serving herself breakfast.

"I'm fine." said Harry smiling.

"I'm good." Ron said with a small smile. "Hermione, I need to ask you a question. Can we go somewhere private?" Ron said looking hopefully. Hermione looked at him quizzically, 

then said okay. Ron looked at Harry; Harry gave him a smile of encouragement. They both left the Great Hall and walked to the nearest empty classroom.

"Um... Hermione... I have been meaning to ask you something." Ron said stuttering and blushing.

"Yes. Continue." she said encouragingly.

"Willyougooutwithme?" Ron said in a hurry.

"What? I couldn't hear you properly." she said.

"I said if you will go out with me?" he restated nervously.

Hermione was full of emotions. She smiled at him and said, "Yes."_ 'I hope now I can forget about Draco.' _she thought sadly.

Ron stepped closer to her and kissed her lightly on the lips. Hermione kissed him back.

"Now that I got that out the way, let's go back I'm hungry." Ron said smiling from ear to ear. _'That wasn't hard.'_ he thought.

"Ron! Can you think of anything other than food?" she giggled and slapped his arm playfully.

Then they walked back to the Gryffindor table, Ron's arm casually over her shoulder and Hermione leaning into him. They were both smiling happily.

**"Hello." Draco greeted Pansy and Theo, though he gave Theo a rude look.****"What? It was hilarious, Drake, I--"****Draco winced as if something amazingly disgusting was crawling down his throat. "**_**Don't**_** shorten or change my name."****"Sorry, sorry." Theodore said insincerely. "But really, he was screaming at us because he didn't have his wand, right? So then . . ."****For the next ten minutes Theo pretty much just chatted with himself over the prank while Pansy and Draco held Blaise from attacking the other boy.**

"Did he finally ask you out?" Harry asked Hermione.

Hermione blushed and nodded her head and continued eating her breakfast.

"Finally! I thought I was going to have to lock you two in an empty classroom with no means of getting out." Harry said smirking.

"Harry!" Hermione said blushing even more, if it were possible. Ron blushed too but kept on eating.

"What its true." he said.  


"Well, how about you and Ginny?" It was Hermione's turn to smirk. Harry blushed deeply but didn't reply.

"WHAT?!" Ron yelled.

"Oh Ronald, it's nothing I was just messing with Harry. Right Harry?" Hermione said smiling.

"Uh... yeah right." Harry said looking at his plate.

They kept on eating for another twenty minutes, but Ginny didn't got to breakfast because she didn't have a morning class of Fridays.

"Harry, Ron, I said it was time to go. Come on." Hermione said sternly.

"But we aren't finished yet." Harry and Ron said pouting.

"You two have 30 seconds to get up and leave. Or else I'm going to hex you both into following me." She said slightly angry. Harry and Ron looked at each other fearfully and got up fast to follow her. They both knew not to mess with her when it came to school work. Hermione smiled and said, "Good boys."

Harry and Ron mumbled something about not being able to finish their breakfast, but Hermione ignored them and kept on walking with them behind her.

**"Potions, everyone." Pansy reminded them, shoving Theo, who fell off the bench, stuck his tongue out, and walked away.****"Oh, joy. Watch the Gryffindor's points just drain away!" Blaise said, grinning and pulling Pansy and Draco along with him to the dungeons. **

To be continued...

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**AN: **Sorry for the cliffie but I had to cut it off. So there was the first half of chapter six, hope you like it. Let me know by leaving a review. Not too harsh please. :) Constructive criticism. :) Anyways thankz to the people who reviewed last chapter. :) The second part should be up real soon. :)

And special thankz to PoohBear813 for beta-ing! THANK YOU! :)

**Brooklynsam3 and mike. :)**


	7. Conversations and Rules, Part 2

**AN:** Hey! Here is the second part! And you didn't have to wait an eternity!  haha! Hope you like it. :D

**WARNING:** If you do not like slash, violence, or language, I urge you to stop reading. Just a friendly warning.

**Reminder:** Bold is mike, regular is me**. ****Disclaimer:** The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine, and if mike decides to add more characters then those original characters are hers.

Enjoy!

* * *

The Trio walked in and sat at the back and opened up their books and waited until class started. Hermione sat in the middle, Ron to her left and Harry to her right.

"Hermione do you know if Ginny likes me?" Harry whispered in Hermione's ear and waited for her response with hopeful eyes.

"Yes she does. Now you better ask her out before she's taken." Hermione whispered back smiling.

Harry blushed and wore a big goofy smile.

"What are you two talking about?" Ron asked.

"He asked me when I was going to show you the guys my dorm, and I told him today before dinner." Hermione told Ron. He was satisfied with the answer so he turned facing the front again and waited for Snape to come in any minute now.

Harry mouthed, "Thank you."

Hermione mouthed back, "Your welcome." Then they both faced the front waiting for Snape also.

**"Hello, Professor." Draco greeted as they reached Snape, who was coming up to the door at just the same time as they were. **

**"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, Mr. Zabini." He nodded, acknowledging their presence.**

**"Oh, I hate Potter; did you see what he did at breakfast?" Pansy said loud enough for Snape to hear as he opened the door. Snape paused to listen.**

**"No, what?" Blaise obliged.**

**"Too horrible, can't talk about it." She said. "But he said he'd be doing something during potions and told the Weasel and the Mudblood to cover for him."**

**Snape walked into the classroom, more malice than usual written on his face.**

**Blaise and Pansy grinned to each other and Draco rolled his eyes. They were so infantile; he would take off points no matter what.**

When Snape walked in he looked at the Trio with a maliciously. Then continued on to the front of 

the classroom to teach. "Why was he looking at us like that? We haven't' done or said anything." Hermione said confused.

"I don't know maybe he woke up on the wrong side of the needles." Ron said. They chuckled.

"No. I can feel that today is not going to be good." Harry said seriously.

"What is so funny Miss Granger?" Snape said sneering.

"Nothing sir." Hermione said quickly.

"Well something must be funny if you three are laughing haven't a dandy time." Snape said. "Since you three are intent on disturbing my class, ten points from Gryffindor, so why don't you three separate."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione started walking towards fellow Gryffindors.

"Oh no, no, no. Mr. Weasley sit with Mr. Zabini, Mr. Potter sit with Miss Parkinson, and Miss Granger sit with Mr. Malfoy." Snape said smirking.

"What?!" The Trio yelled.

"Yes. Now move along or I will take more point off." Snape said evilly. "Now back to the task at hand. Today we will be brewing the Polyjuice potion. The instructions are on the board. You may begin."

**"Professor, today I was supposed to be tested on my knowledge of this potion and the last, I feel that working with a know-it-all would only make the rest of the class unfairly assume that she did all the work in her haste to impress you." Draco pointed out. "I really think it would be in my best interest to work on my own for the duration of this lesson." **_**Potter**_** will have no problem with just this specific one. **

**Snape considered this, looking as if some plan of his had been tampered with, and Draco was offended to think that perhaps his Godfather had thought him incapable of making such a potion and decided to make him work with one who would indeed do it for him. "Very well. I had forgotten. If you have time you and Mister Zabini will be making the next three potions. If you do this, I see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed the pleasure of studying during this class for the rest of the month. This is review, after all." He gave a grimace that might have been a small smile on anyone else's face.**

**Draco stood quickly, grinning with a smug air, and gestured to Blaise that they should sit at separate cauldrons just next to each other.**

**"But Zabini, I would like you to work with Potter." Blaise looked monumentally upset, his bottom lip jutting out and his brows lowering in a very pouty expression. "If he gives you any trouble, please tell me and there will be consequences. I'm not completely sure you've worked out how to make this potion, but I'm sure**

**"Miss Granger, you will need a new partner. It seems there are none free at the moment, so, it may not be anyone from your house, who do you choose?" Snape inquired, glowering down at her. "Answer quickly or your house will lose more points." It was very apparent the only reason he was making her choose was the chance to take more from Gryffindor.**

"Actually no one. I'll be fine on my own. Thank you." she said relieved. _'Thank God I don't have to work with him. Phew! That would have been chaotic, and awkward.'_ she thought.

**Snape gave her a distinctly disgusted glance (including a pronounced wrinkle added just above his long hooked nose), then turned away, "I will be grading you just as tryingly as if you were working with a partner, Miss Granger." He warned, which of course meant he would be unfair and more than likely cruel, of course. **

**Blaise shoved at Harry, "You'd better be good at this, Potter. I'm not staying in this classroom for the next month because of your high opinion of yourself or your fumbling fingers." He promptly sat, crossed his arms, and waited for Harry to begin.**

**Draco started his fire at the correct temperature then began adding the ingredients just as the board demanded. Snape showed his approval with a small nod, the most he'd ever given a student for simply working.**

"Fine." she replied.

Harry on the other hand was having a hard time with his partner.

"You better kiss my ass if you think you are just going to sit there and do nothing. So either you do half the work, I might forget how to do the potion. And since it usually takes me time to do it, I think I might choose to take my time." Harry said angrily.

**"This potion takes over a month to brew, anyway. So it REALLY doesn't matter to me, he won't know if it's made right as long as you make it look grey and goopy. And as for kissing **_**your**_** ass, I'm really not attracted to you. But if that's what does it for you, I'm sure Weasley or Finnegan can help you out." He stated, mostly to get a rise out of him. But Blaise did get up and add things to the potion, maybe not as precisely as it demanded, but in a passable fashion none the less.**

"Like I would want you near it. It's just a phrase dumbass. Oh wait! You have probably taught them how to kiss asses. Since you are the king of that." Harry said smirking. And continued to work on the potion.

Hermione on the other hand was happily stirring in her ingredients from memory. She was almost finished adding the ingredients for the day.

**Blaise looked incredulously at him, then around the room, as if asking everyone else if they had just listened to what he had. "Excuse me, did you just attempt to insult me by saying that I taught **_**your friends**_** how to kiss asses? Sorry, but that sounds more like a slur to them. I must say you're losing your touch, Draco will be sad to hear it." **

**Draco started making his second potion alongside the Polyjuice, allowing it to boil as necessary.**

**"I cannot believe my ears, Potter. You've just taken twenty points from Gryffindor for your language. I'm being quite nice not to make it more." Snape droned, taking his seat and watching the Gryffindors like a vulture eyeing lame prey.**

"Like I would care about what he thinks. Hmm. Why do you care so much about what he thinks?" Harry said looking at Blaise dead in the eye.

Harry was pisses at Snape for taking points off, and it showed in his emerald eyes. _'I can't wait to kick Snape's ass in the war.' _Harry thought vengefully.

**Blaise glared, very happy Snape had taken points. Why did he care? Well, of course he couldn't tell Potter that. Stupid, stupid Potter. "He's my best friend, why shouldn't I care? **

**Don't you care what your Weasel thinks? Or the Mudblood?" His dark brown eyes sparkled with a raw sort of hatred, but nothing else. **

**"Ten minutes left, everyone should be finished momentarily." Snape announced, sounding rather annoyed.**

**Draco finished the second extra potion, as the other had been quick, and began his last. It looked as if he wouldn't need to take this class for a month. It was his favorite lesson, so it didn't matter much to him either way.**

Harry ignored him and continued the potion. Ten minutes later Hermione, Ron, and Harry headed to Transfiguration.

"So Harry, how was working with Zabini?" Hermione said chuckling.

Harry looked at her warily. "Hermione why in the world would make you ask that question? You were there. He was annoying the fuck out of me." Harry said irritably.

"Harry I was just joking. Don't worry too much about it." Hermione said soothingly.

Ron put his arm around Hermione and said, "Like he has it bad. I'm partner with Parkinson." Ron shuddered. "It was horrible. At least it's over for today." He said smiling.

The trio walked into the classroom and sat in the second row, Hermione in the middle, Ron on her left, and Harry on her right, waiting for Prof. McGonagall to come.

"You guys, today after dinner come with me so you can see my dorm. Okay?" Hermione said. "And bring Ginny too." Hermione discreetly winked at Harry. Harry nodded.

**"Pansy, it's just a Weasel. At least yours was a pureblood." Blaise groaned as she continued to compulsively spell her hands clean and then wipe them on Blaise. **

**"Blood traitor." She shuttered, a look of utter disgust on her face. "I can feel his betrayal, it's crawling all over my skin . . ."**

**"Mine was a half-blood and Harry Bloody Potter! Stop your complaining!" Blaise shoved at her, but she clung to his side.**

**Draco just smiled. "If only the two of you were as intelligent as I am. Then you'd be out of that damn class, but no. You're stuck."**

**They both turned on him, Pansy looking ready to verbally rend his flesh from his body, but Blaise glanced down the hallway both ways, then noted there was no one, and jumped on him. "Bad Draco. Mean Draco." He cooed, pressing his forehead to the other boy's.**

**"Get off me, you're damn heavy!" Draco demanded, leaning against the wall and threatening to drop him.**

**"Are you saying I'm fat?" Blaise pouted.**

**"No, I'm saying you're heavy and I can't very well carry you to Transfiguration, so get off of me."**

**"Kay." He said childishly, hopping off him but leaning aggressively in to steal a kiss. Draco allowed this only for a moment, then pushed him away.**

**"Idiot, someone could see." Draco reminded, starting on his way. **

**"The only thing worth living for." Blaise joked.**

**"I hate both of you." Pansy added to the conversation, examining her silver nails, tipped green, and smiling lightly in spite of her words. "I'm coming by tonight, Draco." She warned, as if telling him to be on his best behavior for this.**

**"Sure." He allowed indulgently, not caring either way. It wasn't his problem if he wasn't there, so he didn't mind her going.**

**"Me too, then." Blaise stated, though it was a bit of a question.**

**"Whatever." Draco responded, again not caring, as he stepped into the classroom and they all took their seats, waiting for the professor.**

For Hermione Transfiguration went by in a blur. She was still conflicted about what she should do about Malfoy about to become a deatheater. _'It's a miracle Harry, Ron, and Ginny haven't asked what is wrong. I hope it stays that way.'_ she thought.

When class was over the Trio started walking to the Great Hall for lunch.

"I'll see you guys later. I have to go to the library to research for my homework." Hermione lied. She was going to the library to think without interruption.

Harry had a feeling that she was lying but didn't comment on it. "Alright. Don't forget to eat though. Okay?" Harry said seriously.

"Okay." Hermione said. _'I need to stop lying to my friends.'_ she thought sadly.

"You sure you don't want us to come?" Ron said hopefully.

"No it's okay Ron. Just go eat lunch." Hermione smiled weakly.

"Fine." Ron said with a hint of hurt.

Hermione headed to the library. _'Now I can go think and sort out my thoughts.'_ she thought.

**Draco, Blaise, Pansy, and the apologetic Theo entered the Great Hall for lunch. Draco had only just sat down and began the meal when he realized he'd forgotten to do his charms essay. **

**"Oh." He blurted, forgetting himself and looking worried for a moment, slinging his bag over his shoulder.**

**"What's wrong?" Blaise questioned.**

**"I--Well, I'll just be in the library." Draco told him, not wanting to admit his irresponsibility, as he'd just been complaining about Blaise not doing his work on time.**

**"Library? Why?" Blaise seemed to think the only reason the library was made was so that Ravenclaws would have a place to pretend to be going when the dances were in session and they couldn't bring themselves to show up.**

**"No reason." Draco stood and began walking out.**

**"I'll go find you if you're not in Charms, Lovie!" Blaise warned. The blond took a second to glare at him for the petname before jogging up to the library. Perhaps he'd have time to do it before the next lesson. **

**He arrived not long after, flung open the door (much to Madam Pince's disapproval) and sat in the chair near the window.**

Hermione was sitting in her favorite comfy squishy seat near the back of the library. When she heard a noise Hermione looked up to see Malfoy walk in. Thank god he didn't see her, she really didn't want to be in the same room as him. Since she was close to figuring out what to do about the secret, and she didn't want him interrupting her thoughts.

Hermione gathered her things and pretended that she didn't see him and started heading out the library heading for a quick bit before her next class. _'So far so good. I'm almost there.'_ she thought nervously.

**Blaise decided to spy on Draco, see if he really was in this 'Library'. Wherever that was. So he asked a cute Ravenclaw boy (Terry Boot, that Blaise decided on the spot that the boy was at least bi. Probably gay, because as far as he was concerned there was no such thing as 'bi'. Just boys and girls that didn't want to admit they were queer), and on his way he was. He slunk in the shadows, completely unnecessary but it did make him feel better. **

**He was doing great, people were ignoring him, and for once that was a good thing. He opened the library door, glanced around, and then turned to make sure no one was tailing him . . . only to walk directly into Hermione. "AH!" He yelled.**

**Pince turned on him. "Do NOT yell in my library!" She shouted in a whisper, her dry voice crackling like the pages in the older tomes.**

**Blaise's eyes widened as he brushed himself off . . . and found Draco standing over him, offering him a hand. "Er." He said.**

**Draco reached down lower for Blaise's hand, then pulled him to his feet. "Idiot." He replied, looked over at Hermione for a moment, then back to Blaise.**

**"She tripped me." Blaise lied quickly.**

**"Bravo."**

"No I didn't you fucking bastard!" she said angrily. "You were one to run into _me_. Probably to spy on Malfoy, to see if he's making out with some other guy. How pathetic." Hermione said smirking and walked away.

**Blaise's eyebrows shot up, looking surprised. "The language that Mudblood has, you'd think she was born to sailors." ****calm him down. **

**Draco looked around, seeing they'd made a scene and people were already talking. "Shit." He whispered, walking out and slamming the door shut. He only got a few more paces in before he turned and punched a wall. That bloody stupid girl.**

**Blaise found him with his head against the wall, clenching his fists and his jaw. He rested a hand gently on the other boy's shoulder.**

**Draco whipped around. "This is your fault."**

**"My fault? I didn't tell the Mudblood to say that! How is it my fault?" Blaise asked, trying to**

**The blond pushed him, turning away. "Your bloody fault because you came. Is that why you were there? Didn't trust me?" He taunted.**

**"You don't give me any reason to. You won't promise me anything, so--"**

**"So why do you expect it?" Draco questioned cruelly.**

**"I--" Blaise took a step back, looking as if he'd been punched. "I . . ." He looked around, then back to Draco. "I'll see you in class." And he left.**

Hermione walked into the Great Hall looking for her friends. She spotted them in the middle of the table. Hermione walked to them.

"Hey!" Hermione said smiling, and gave Ron a quick kiss on the lips.

"Why are you smiling?" Ron said suspiciously.

"Ronald, if you must know I just came from the library. Duh! I told you that before I left." Hermione said peeved.

"Sorry." Ron blushed.

Hermione at quick and said, "Come on class is about to start. Bye Ginny." She said dragging Harry and Ron from the table.

"Bye. See you guys later." Ginny said.

Hermione turned to Harry and whispered in his ear, "If you don't ask Ginny out anytime soon I will be forced to push you two together." Hermione said smirking at his reaction.

Harry started blushing madly. And whispered back, "No! Don't do that. Give me a few more days, and I'll ask her out. I am shy you know. And what about Ron?"

"First off you are nice, caring, brave, a gentleman, great at Quidditch, and you are extremely handsome. She would definitely say yes." she said knowingly, and smiled.

If it were possible Harry blushed even redder. "Really? Wow. I didn't know. And you noticed?" Harry said smirking.

"Yes you are. And yes I noticed. I am a girl. Too bad I love you like a brother, cause you would have been taken years ago." She said laughing.

"By Who?" Harry said trying to not laugh to loud.

"By me off course." She giggled.

"Then it's also a good thing that I love you like a sister. And you are also beautiful, smart, caring, and brave, too." Harry said smirking.

Hermione blushed. "Thanks. Now let's hurry up before Ron stops talking to Neville and realizes that we are way behind him."

"Yeah." Harry said and put his arm around her shoulders in a brotherly way and started walking fast to catch up with Ron.

**Draco found Pansy on the way to Charms. "I didn't finish my essay. Give me yours?" **

**"He'll know a copying charm." She warned. "He's not the professor for nothing."**

**"Oh, fine." Draco gave in, his O would survive missing one essay. If he hadn't been so distracted . . . but that was just what happened, living in the vicinity of Granger and being around the demanding Blaise and perpetually rude Pansy.**

**"Where did our Princess wander off to?" Pansy asked, changing the shoulder her book bag rested on.**

**"Hell if I know." Draco replied, sighing.**

**"Another fight? What is it with this school? You two never fought before. You'd do some pretty strange things, but fighting wasn't one of them. Something's got you in a mood lately."**

**She had a good point. And that something must have been a certain bookworm, he glared at her back as she and Potter rushed down the hallway. It was her fault if he lost the best male friend he'd had, someone he'd grown to trust . . . because their version of a relationship had been perfect before.**

**He glanced over to find Michael Corner giving him a glance he certainly recognized, unless he was highly mistaken. Draco raised a brow at him and the boy blushed, bit his lip, and looked away.**

**"Oh, do that somewhere else." Pansy demanded as she sat down, patting the seat next to her to order Draco to sit. He did so, because she was not one to be denied easily and it would just make everything simpler.**

**Blaise didn't come to class until Professor Flitwick stood at its front. He sat next to Draco, smiled a weak smile, and fished through his backpack rather than striking up a conversation.**

The day seemed to have its own plan on speeding the day. It was time for dinner and Hermione and Ron were sitting across from Harry and Ginny, who happened to be blushing.

"Hermione, can I talk to you for a sec in private?" Ginny said nervously.

"Sure. Be right back guys." Hermione said.

"Girls. What the hell do they talk about anyways?" Ron said annoyed.

"They are probably trying to prank us again. Which by the way, we still haven't got them back." Harry said smiling evilly.

Ron looked at Harry. "What do you have in mind?"

Harry told Ron his plan. Ron snickered, "That's the best plan we have come up with."

Outside the Great Hall. "Hermione does Harry like me?" Ginny asked nervously.

Hermione smiled knowingly. "Yes he does."

"Great! Now I can set my plan into motion." Ginny said brightly.

"And what is that?" Hermione said intrigued.

Ginny told Hermione her plan on how to tell Harry about her crush on him, on the way back into the Great Hall.

**Blaise told everyone he was behind in studying for DADA, a blatant lie, and left them instead of going to dinner. This meant Draco was sitting next to Pansy, who was outtalking her usual words per minute at Theo and Vincent, who were staring blankly. Greg didn't even pretend to listen as he inhaled several plates of turkey. **

**Needless to say, the boy was very, very bored. Until he looked up and found that same boy, Michael Corner, with his dark hair spiked up and out of his face, unlike when he had that horrible cut back in fifth year . . . Draco motioned to the door, and Michael nodded shyly, causing a feral grin to appear on Draco's lips.**

**He waited for the boy to leave, then made his excuses. Ten minutes later he and Michael were in his room and looked to be staying so for a while.**

A few minutes later the four friends finished their dinner and started heading towards the Head's dorm.

"Hurry up you guys! You have to see it, it's beautiful." Hermione said happily.

"No need to rush." Harry said smiling.

"Yeah. What do you have planned?" Ron said joking.

"We are planning to kidnap you guys, then send you to Uranus." Ginny said bursting out laughing, and so did Hermione.

"What?! That is not funny at all." Ron said surprised.

"Ron, don't worry about it they were just kidding. Plus you have to admit that was funny." Harry said smiling.

"Yeah it sort of was." Ron said putting his arm around a laughing Hermione.

"That was hilarious! Not funny. You should have seen your shocked faces when Ginny said we were going to send you to a planet. Well, you two probably thought it was actually your asses." Hermione said laughing so hard she was tearing up.

"No I didn't!" Ron lied badly.

"Whatever. We are here." Hermione stated. "The password is Friendship." she told them.

They walked into the dorm laughing like a bunch of idiots.

**The entrance door closed loud enough for Draco to hear it, just when Michael let out a particularly loud moan. Spinning into an oblivion of pleasure (Michael wasn't bad, for a virgin), Draco couldn't silence him. He decided to hope it was just Granger and the Weaslette that were laughing so hard as he cleaned himself up. **

**Michael dressed in a rush, Draco put on a pair of pants and trousers, cleaning his sweaty hair, then followed Michael to the common room . . . where he found more Gryffindors than he was comfortable with.**

**  
"H-hi, Ginny . . ." Michael said, biting his lip again and running a hand through his messy spikes, then across his mismatched buttons. **

**Well, what did it matter? The Mudblood had probably already told them. Draco forgot for a moment that he was shirtless and took his place on the bench near the window, cracking it open.**

**"When can I see you again?" Michael asked in a whisper, looking nervous.**

**"Maybe tomorrow, maybe never." Draco answered cryptically, pulling him in for a hard, fast kiss and pushing him away. "Out." He commanded.**

**Michael waved to Ginny and opened the door to go.**

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Ron thundered disgustedly, in a state of shock.

"MALFOY'S GAY! WHAT?!" Harry yelled at the same time as Ron and equally shocked. They both had turned to see who was opening the door and got quiet and eyeful they really didn't need.

Hermione and Ginny we rolling on the floor laughing their asses off.

"EW! That's just wrong and gross." Ron said shuddering.

"Now I know what Blaise meant about him being close to Malfoy. EW." Harry said looking ready to vomit at the thought of them two going at it.

**Draco stood quickly, fury hardening in his eyes, and rounded on the boys. "Listen, you filthy breeders. I'm not 'gay', I'm 'bisexual', not that it's any of your damn business." He grabbed Harry by the shirt front. "And you know what they say about the boy who complains too much about gay boys . . ." He brought his face closer, "He's a fucking queer." He shoved him back. **

**"Afraid you'll lose your little girlfriends? You should be. Why would they want you when they could have me?" He motioned down to his evident abdominal muscles, well-formed pectorals, and lithely lined arms. "If you weren't so biased, I'd ask you." He told Ginny and Hermione. "Because the truth is, I'm easily hotter than those two boys, right girls?" Draco stood nearer to them, licked his lips, and smirked. "Don't worry, I won't make you admit it."**

**With that he walked over to the bookshelf, studying the titles as if he really wanted one of the books.**

"I AM NOT A FUCKING QUEER! FERRET! I was just shocked! I would never judge anybody! Even you!" Harry yelled. Harry walked up to Malfoy and punched him in the nose. "And if you manhandle me ever again I will kill you, and if you ever disrespect the girls or go anywhere near them again I WILL kill you in the worst way possible!"

Ron had walked up to help Harry kick Malfoy's ass, but Hermione and Ginny grabbed both of them by the arms and started pulling them away yelling, "HE'S NOT WORTH IT HARRY! Please stop and just follow me to my room! You don't want to get expelled for murder." Hermione begged. She could see put rage in his eyes and was afraid that he might do something that will get him expelled, and Ron looked murderous too. _'I hope that nothing bad would happen.'_ she thought scared.

Hermione and Ginny stood in front of them pushing them away from the fight. "If you two do not move I will make you!" Ginny said angrily. "He is not worth getting in trouble for. He's just a slimy git."

_'I wish I kept that damn vow now.'_ Hermione thought scared.

**Blood poured out of Draco's nose, he wiped it on his arm, shaking his head. He decided he deserved it, in some way. "Fucking asshole." He looked up to Potter. "Going to let them drag you away? Come on, come kick my ass. Can't you even beat a queer?" He took his wand out of his pocket, gripping it tightly. "I'll throw mine out if you throw yours. Fight like dirty muggles if it will make you more comfortable." The words sounded somehow sexual in the way he said them, seductive. He said a spell and his nose stopped bleeding. "Scared, Potter?" **

"Oh fuck no! You did not just say that I'm scared!" Harry yelled fire ablaze in his eyes. Harry shoved the girls aside and headed toward Malfoy with clenched fists.

"STOP! I will not tolerate this crap in my dorm or anywhere else for that matter!" Hermione thundered. Then she yelled,"PATRIFICUS TOTALIS!" At the same time Ginny did. Harry, Ron, and Draco were frozen on the spot. Hermione and Ginny were furious by now.

"Ginny levitate Harry and Ron to my room lock all the doors and don't let them out of your sight." Hermione told Ginny, then took all three of the boy's wands and placed it in her pocket under a spell. So they can't be returned to their owner until she deem fit.

"Okay." she said angrily. Hermione waved her wand and opened the door, she had also set it to let her open the door with her wand.

When Ginny closed the door she locked it from the outside, that would only open in an emergency or when she lifted it. Then said the countercurse on Malfoy.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! YOU ARE HEAD BOY! YOU SHOULDN'T BE ACTING LIKE A FIVE YEAR OLD! YOU SHOULD BE SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THE SCHOOL! NOT START FIGHTS! I am sick and tired of this crap! If you are going to act immature then I'm going to go to Prof. Dumbledore and tell him everything!" She screamed, her eyes a darker shade of brown. She was clenching her fists trying to hold her anger.

**"I didn't start the fight, are you blind? Your bloody little boyfriend did. He's the one who had a problem with me kissing someone." Draco said in a flat voice, opening his hand and waiting. "I'd like my wand back, I'm going to go find Blaise."**

"He is not my boyfriend! He is like my brother, and if you want your wand back in one piece I suggest you go apologize, I'll make sure he does too. Even though it wasn't his fault he was shocked. And YOU started the fight by grabbing his shirt. Now go apologize or go to Zabini without your wand. Cause you are not going to hurt anyone with it while I'm here." She said angrily. "And don't even think about trying to take the wand from me, cause it's spell proof and it will only come to you when you are in no immediate danger to yourself or anybody else." She opened the door to her room with a flick of her wand and pointed to it.

**Draco looked up as though asking some god to give him strength. "I'm not going to hurt anyone, or myself, as long as I can get the hell out of here. If I stay, I can't keep that promise." He said truthfully. "So please, Granger, give me my damn wand. He punched me in the nose, I didn't harm him, and if I get my wand back I won't need to." He gave her a very tight smile and held out his hand. "Don't be ridiculous." **

She looked at him reluctantly. "Fine. But if you do something like that again to my friends without being provoked I WILL make you suffer the consequences myself. And you know what I mean." She said dangerously. She handed over his wand and turned on her heel towards her room.

**"Do what? Say they're gay? Trust me, there are worse things to be, Mudblood." He said sadly, turning away and walking out. He decided to find Blaise, just as he'd said, instead of finding someone else as he'd planned. **

**He walked down the hall and his plans were halted. There was Padma Patil. He hadn't had a girl in weeks, and with Harry's voice in the back of his mind, yelling about gays, he walked right up to her. "Hey." He whispered sensually in her ear. It was different with girls. They didn't want a quickie in a bathroom stall or empty classroom then the end. They wanted romance.**

**"Hello." She said indifferently, not really liking him, but as a Ravenclaw knowing 'Slytherin' was not synonymous with 'evil'.**

**"How would you like to come back to my room for a while?" Draco asked her, leaning close.**

**"I-I'm supposed to be studying." She murmured, looking away.**

**"That's what we'll do. Study." His tone spoke otherwise.**

**"Um, I don't know." Padma said, looking anywhere but at him. That's when it hit him, he still wasn't wearing a shirt. Hell, that was no way to pick up girls!**

**"It won't be long, just a detour." But he knew it wasn't going to work. She'd want to talk for a long time, which he wasn't in the mood for. Now he remembered why it was always boys lately, if you took a girl to your room and knew her at all before hand, she'd be hearing wedding bells by the time it was over. "Never mind, go fill your pretty little head up with textbook information. I'm going to go get laid."**

**She looked at him in disgust. "Do that." Padma walked away, going to the library.**

**Draco walked down to the dungeons, into the Slytherin dorms, intent on bringing Blaise back with him, even though he knew he was supposed to be patrolling that night.**

Hermione walked up the stairs exhausted but she still caught the sadness in his voice. _'Oh well. I'll ponder that later.'_ She thought. She felt like a ton of bricks, all because of the fighting. _'Why did Dumbledore think that we would get along? Can't he tell that this was a mistake? I can't take this anymore. Ha. Funny thing, it's only day five of living here and it looks like I might die of high blood pressure.' _Hermione thought warily.

When Hermione walked through the door she was bombarded with questions.

"Why did you do that for?" Harry said angrily.

Ron was pissed as hell.

"What happened?" Ginny said worried.

Hermione walked to her bed and sat on it, and turned to Harry. "First off I did that to prevent a murder that was sure to happen Harry. I don't want you going to Askaban for murdering Malfoy. I could tell by your eyes that you were ready to kill." she told Harry seriously but angry.

She turned to Ginny and said, "I threatened him that if does not cool off with the fighting that I would go to Dumbledore and tell him everything. He must have taken that threat to heart because he said he wasn't going to do anything unless he was forced to stay. I could tell he was furious also and I didn't want anymore fighting so I gave back his wand and then he left. And to think about it he left half naked. I hope he gets caught." She said seriously.

"You like him don't you!" Ron yelled accusingly.

Then she turned to Ron and glared at him. If looks could kill he would be dead in an instant. "What the hell did you just say?" she growled.

Ron was a little intimidated by her anger but still repeated his question. Which may not have been a good idea. "I said you like him don't you."

Hermione walked up to him and snarled, "How could you be so stupid? I do not like him at all. How could you accuse me of that. I am not the type of person to cheat around. If I'm going out with you it must mean that I like you and only you, you dumbass." The she walked back to her bed and sat down again.

"I'm sorry Hermione. It's just that what he said and did to you and Ginny got to my head." Ron apologized, and tried to give her a hug.

"No! Stay away from me. You hurt me bad. And with all this crap going on in my life I don't need you accusing me of infidelity. Now I'll talk to you later when I'm not pissed at you, but for now leave." She said hurt.

"But Hermione.." Ron started.

"Ron please leave." Hermione pleaded.

"Fine. See you later." He said hurt.

When he walked out the door Hermione started crying lightly. Harry and Ginny ran to Hermione and enveloped her in a hug. Harry who had calmed down after hearing Hermione, because he knew she was telling the truth. He hated seeing her hurt or crying, it broke his heart. "Hermione please don't cry. Everything is going to be okay." Harry said soothingly.

"No it's not Harry. All these fights are getting to me and I just hurt my best friend and boyfriend." Hermione sobbed.

"Hermione that was not your fault. Ron had no right to accuse you like that. He got what he deserved." Ginny said sternly.

"Thanks you guys. I feel a little better. I just hope that the fighting will stop." Hermione said sadly.

"You don't need to thank us, we'll always be here for you." Harry said smiling.

"Yeah." Ginny agreed.

"Well I have to go check on Ron to make sure he does hurt himself." Harry joked.

"Okay. Bye." Hermione said hugging Harry goodbye.

After Harry left Ginny turned to Hermione. "Are you going to be okay?" Ginny said worried.

"Yeah thanks. I'm just going to take a shower and a little nap before heading out for patrolling." Hermione smiled slightly.  


"Okay. But if you need anything don't hesitate to ask." Ginny said smiling. Then she hugged Hermione and left.

_'I have such great friends. I'm the luckiest girl alive. I hope Ron is alright. Malfoy better do patrolling away with me if he wants to stay alive. Cause he was part of the cause of Ron being hurt.'_ she thought tiredly. Hermione gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom for a shower

**Draco had a quick round with Blaise, then Pansy reminded him that she was dropping by and had in fact been about to come up when he'd stopped in. Draco stole one of Blaise's shirts (which wasn't a great thing, Blaise had this custom-fit, very tight, and they clung to Draco, making him feel uncomfortable with others looking at him) then allowed them to accompany him up to the Heads Dorm. **

**"Patrol tonight?" Blaise asked, to which Draco nodded. "Detention for me." He said glumly.**

**"I'll see what I can do to meet you there when you're through."**

**"Since you're on patrol, I guess that means it's a safe night to sneak out?" Pansy inquired in her usual nonchalant tones, again inspecting her nails as she magicked on a coat of gloss.**

**"If you'd like to be caught by Granger, be my guest." Draco groused, sitting on the couch so that Blaise could sit at his side.**

**"When're you leaving?"**

**"A few minutes, Granger better hurry. The first half of the round is supposed to be together because we do the dungeons, then we do the rest apart for the rest of the floors we're patrolling tonight." Draco revealed.**

**"Patrolling with the Mudblood?" Pansy snorted, smiling.**

**"Too bad for you, mate. I'd rather clean cauldrons, even if Snape's in a mood." Blaise said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. The motion made his eyes light, as if a memory filled them. "That reminds me, I never got to thank you for showing up with fewer clothes on than usual. It was a nice treat, love. I don't usually see you very long without your shirt, and you look lovely." Blaise whispered the last directly into his ear, bit his neck, then was pushed away.**

**"Don't worry, it won't happen again." Draco assured.**

**"I can't believe you risked being caught without all of your clothes on for this idiot." Pansy told him, still looking mildly surprised.**

**"Granger better hurry." Draco said, trying to change the subject.**

After Hermione took a shower she went and took an hour nap. Hermione woke up and stretched. _'Hmm. Thank God that we could wear anything when we are patrolling Friday nights.'_ Hermione thought happily. She picked a pair of form fitted dark blue jeans and a white cardigan that hugged her chest nicely and a pair of white tennis sneakers. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. _'Wow! I look good. Thanks to working out I have a nice body.'_ she thought smiling.

When she finished putting her hair up in a ponytail she grabbed her wand and headed out her room to start patrolling. _'Malfoy better be ready, and he better stay away from me if he knows any better.'_ she thought angrily.

**"Finally, Granger." Muggle clothes, how fitting. He usually despised them, but he'd seen her in them when they were younger and they made him feel less like calling her a Mudblood, so he decided it was good she wore them while they had to be around each other for any amount of time. Besides, certain people could pull off the fashion, and she had the simplicity that allowed it. **

**"She looks desperate." Pansy whispered loudly to Blaise, her way of telling someone something she thought they needed to know without being upfront about it.**

**Blaise gave Hermione a once-over. "When anyone's around Draco they look desperate." He said back, leering before Draco pushed him.**

**"Just go, you'll be late and Snape will give you another." Draco responded, fighting a blush. He hated how people looking at him like that could do that, but really he was just embarrassed to still be wearing the damn ill-fitting shirt (muscles should not be put on display while wearing clothes if you're not on stage dancing in a club, he'd decided).**

Hermione heard the comment Parkinson made and said," Well Parkinson just because you are desperate to sleep with any male in this school, that does not mean that any other girl is. Oh dear me of course you are desperate, since I saw you trying to seduce Neville. I guess you really don't care who it is as long as they have a penis to go inside your mouth you will be fine." Hermione said smirking. "And dear Blaise don't forget you were following Malfoy to see if he was shagging other guys. So don't ever say anything about being desperate, cause you are also desperate to have him and make sure nobody does. So excuse me I have to go patrol."

Hermione had noticed Malfoy with the muscle shirt and was trying not to blush because that would give her away that she was looking. _'Can he get any hotter?'_ Hermione thought smiling inwardly.

**Draco pulled Pansy back to have a talk with her as she looked ready to start a cat fight right there, and he had patrolling to do. **

**While the other two were busy, Blaise walked up beside Hermione, not looking malicious, but almost like he pitied her. "Darling, I am desperate for him. He's a very, very good fuck. And I plan to keep him all to myself. I'm sorry you can't have him, if I was into sharing I'd let you get a piece so you could see what you're missing." He put a hand on her shoulder, for once not looking disgusted, as he stared her in the eyes. He was finding her secrets, the perfect Slytherin. A moment later a small, sad smile sat on his lips. "Dearheart, let the thought go, you'll not be having him." He said so slowly that she could pretend she hadn't heard it, if it pleased her.**

"No thank you. Don't pity me cause I don't care and I would never want to go anywhere near him let alone share him. Ew! And please keep those comments to yourself. It may be happy for you but nauseating to me. And thanks for reassuring me." she said brightly then smiled and petted his shoulder and started walking towards the door. "Hurry up Malfoy, patrolling starts in a few minutes and I don't want to be late." she said over her shoulder.

_'Maybe I will or maybe I won't.' _she thought smiling to herself.

**Draco finished his argument, nodding to Pansy, and she rolled her eyes and left quickly. **

"We've got to go to the dungeons first anyway, so we're walking Blaise." Draco told her rather than asking.

**  
"That is, as long as you permit." Blaise said in a slightly teasing voice, obviously trying to get along with Hermione, whatever his reason was. **

**Draco raised an elegant blond brow at him and he grinned, pressing a quick kiss to Draco's lips before he could be denied and looking back to Hermione.**

"Fine, whatever. As long as you two don't start making out. Cause then I'm going to have to throw up on both of you." she said jokingly, and smiled. She knew that he was up to something but still since he wanted to joke around she would too. "Hmm. You know Zabini if you weren't gay or believed in that pureblood crap, I would have taken you myself. Cause you do look good." she said smirking.

**"Why, thank you, darling." He posed for a moment. "I completely agree. You're not bad yourself, I mean, just because the blood may not be up to my normal standard, it fills you out well. And you don't dress dreadfully, which is more than I can say for a certain boy who won't ever wear fitting shirts or trousers." Blaise said, glaring over at Draco. **

**"Excuse you, my clothes fit perfectly!" Draco replied, sounding offended. "Just because they aren't a second skin doesn't mean anything!"**

**"But love, you have the perfect ass for tight pants, and you're so amazingly beautiful that really you don't even need clothes!"**

**"Blaise, not everyone can get away with walking around in the nude, and I'm afraid the professors wouldn't** **appreciate it." Draco humored him.**

**"Hermione-dear, tell him, wouldn't he look better if he wore my shirts every day? Maybe a better pair of trousers . . ." Blaise tugged Draco's trousers to make them look like they were painted on, causing Draco's porcelain cheeks to stain pink.**

**"Merlin, don't do that!" He pushed the other boy away.**

"Nice pose and thank you Blaise." Hermione said smiling, she did a small curtsy and started laughing at what Blaise said. "Well..I don't know. Let's see." She said circling Malfoy. "He would look better with a tight shirt and loose jeans. It would show off his body. But he's shy, so why don't you help him get over it. And no I would not like to see him or anyone walking around naked, and neither would the teachers." Hermione told Blaise smirking, blushing slightly.

_'I can't wait to use this against Malfoy. Hmm, he does look good in that though.'_ she thought smiling to herself.

**"I try, I really do . . ." Blaise said with a sigh, as if the world was cruel giving him a project like Draco Malfoy. "But he hates it when I try for anything in public and he doesn't play well with the other boys." He sounded motherly, grinning, then added. "He seems to think it fun slamming them into walls and forcing his tongue in their mouths, I don't yet** **understand it, his father and I are hoping it's a phase." **

**Draco looked as though the world had turned against him. "Don't talk about my father." He demanded, walking ahead of them. "I'll leave you girls to discuss behind my back." Draco allowed.**

**"Look at his ass, for Merlin's sake!" Blaise blurted loudly, pointing to it. "He's so slim, but so nicely muscled . . . oh, you were perfectly right about the loose jean-trousers, if they hung just so from his hips--" He showed the level with his hands, smiling to Hermione as if she was an old friend, turned accomplice in crime.**

**  
Draco turned the corner, and Blaise stopped Hermione, suddenly looking serious. "Please." He said quietly, begging. "Has he had someone else up lately? I don't care about the girls, but a boy?" Blaise questioned, looking as if his life depended on the answer.**

Hermione was shocked by his outburst. But she decided to lie to him because she would feel bad if she told him the truth when we were just joking around like old friends. "Um..I don't think so. I'm pretty sure he hasn't." She lied pretending to think deeply about it. But decided to change the subject. "Since you didn't let me tell you what I wanted to say later I'll say it now, I think he likes to be the one in control so it would be impossible for you to change him. And yes he has a nice butt." she said with a smile._ 'Why am I even talking about Malfoy's body parts? I need to get away from Blaise before I'm scarred for life.'_ she thought slightly scared but amused.

**Something flickered in Blaise's eyes, then died out. "Oh." he said, answering from her first statement, but a smile was glaringly light a moment later. "I say that we just take all of his clothes, tailor them to actually fit. Or shrink his shirts. You could do it, couldn't you? When he's not looking? I'd be forever grateful, I do so like looking at him." They turned the corner, seeing Draco walking down the stairs. **

**Blaise sighed. "I love him, you know." He whispered, making one think it was the first time he'd ever say it. And it probably was. "But it doesn't matter." The brunet grinned again, wrapping his arm around her waist as if he'd never spoken a word out of place. "Hermione-dear, we must have a girls' night, you, me, and anyone else. We'll talk about cute boys and who looks the best naked, anything you want. Alright?" It was as if he was paying her back for listening to him, giving her a prize for not laughing.**

Hermione was torn when she heard him say he loves Draco, because now she knew that Draco will never be with her. Because he'll most likely choose Blaise over her. But she hid her pain quickly. She slid her arm around his waist and replied," Hmmm. That does sound good, but there is one thing wrong with that plan. Malfoy will have a stroke and come after me since I live there, and then he'll come after you, and I don't want either of those things happening. You know he could fix his clothes again with his wand, unless you know a spell to prevent that."

"I would love to have a girl's night out. I'll invite Ginny only. What day should we do it? Since we are already doing it in my dorm." she asked him smiling happily. _'Wow, today I'm miss smile. I think I'm bipolar, one minute I'm angry, then sad, and now smiling. I need help.' _she thought smiling to herself.

**"No, you're right, we'll just have to convince him he looks like Adonis with the clothes on right." Blaise admitted, undefeated and with a new plan. "How about . . . well, I can't this weekend, it may have to wait a bit. Next weekend? We'll see. I know you don't like Pansy, but if I can convince her to hold her tongue I'd like to bring her. She knows just about everything about everyone." He told her. Somehow they were already to Snape's classroom. "Who'd ever have thought, me and you, huh, babe?" He said, giving her a feminine wave before pulling Draco to him for a kiss (that made Draco push him into the classroom and away from himself). **

**"Sweet Merlin, I hate him sometimes." Draco said, smirking at the closed door. "So what did you talk about?" He questioned, completely astonished at Blaise's behavior.**

"Okay Blaise." she said loudly and waved at him before he closed the door. _'Yeah who would have thought. She better keep her mouth shut.'_ Hermione thought.

"Huh. Oh don't worry your little brain about it. Let's start patrolling and get it over with." she said smirking at Malfoy.

**"Excuse me? If you two are going to be all sweet together, the least you could do is tell me what you were saying!" He looked very, very curious. "I'm sure some of it was about me, he can go on for days about things he likes and doesn't. Tell me and . . . and I'll try my best to be civil for the rest of the evening. As long as it's something good." Draco swore. **

Hermione thought it over. _'It would be nice if we weren't arguing for once.' _she thought. "All right I guess I'll be fine to tell you something little. Well we were just talking about shrinking you clothes so that you would show your physique more, but I told him that plan would have backfired on us because you could have easily fix your clothes. Then hunted us down for messing with it." she said laughing slightly. Then looked at his face to see his reaction.

**Draco looked outraged when she mentioned 'harming' his clothes, then mollified when he learned the idea was turned down. "Yes. I still owe you something terrible, if you'll remember." He said, smiling evilly before catching himself. "But this way, you won't know when it's coming. And I'm a bit worried at you thinking over my 'physique' too much, Granger. D****on't forget to breathe and please refrain from touching." It was almost a joke, almost something said between friends, if only his haughty air would drop. His arrogance got in the way of conversation even when cruelty did not.**

Hermione blushed. "Ha ha. Malfoy if you do remember I am a girl so I can look all I want. And don't worry I've seen better, and of course I will not be touching you in any way shape or form. And I can't wait to see what you owe me, it should be fun." Hermione said jokingly, and started laughing at the thought of him trying to get back at her.

**"Being a girl gives you the right to stare at me like I'm some piece of meat?" Draco said in mock-offence. "No wonder Blaise strives to be so effeminate, I wish I had that privilege." He teased slightly. "The boys would have even more to worry about." **

**The blond decided that, just this once, while they were alone, he'd give just a bit. Blaise had been hanging all over her, for Merlin's sake. Maybe she'd even tell him the real thing they'd been talking about if Draco could get along well enough with her.**

"Gosh darn it! I didn't think that it was even possible to hurt your feelings. And leave poor Blaise alone, he hasn't done anything to you. Of course you have whatever privileges you want, you just have to learn not to get caught." Hermione said then burst out laughing.  
_  
'I wonder why he's being to carefree. Hmm, he just probably wants to know what Blaise and I were talking about. Like hell I'm going to tell him. He'll just have to wait until then.' _Hermione thought.

**"How did you know Blaise hasn't done me?" He asked pervertedly, purposely mistaking her words. "I mean, aside from the fact that he's an obvious bottom . . . And I don't get caught, or some straight boys would be very scared of me. Namely--" He stopped, looking as if he'd almost given something away, smiling. "That would have been very bad." Draco said, sounding relieved. **

"Ew! You pervert! You know that's not what I meant." she said punching his arm. "If you are talking about Harry and Ron, don't worry they won't tell anyone cause the only thing that would cause is more problems and I already have enough of that. And it was you own fault you got caught. If you would have been more careful you would not have been caught or punched." Hermione snickered.

**"Let's just say, if Potter knew what I was thinking, he would have done more than just punch me." Draco said, biting his lip. That was a secret he'd never told anyone, he wasn't ****sure why it slipped out. "If you tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it and kill you in your sleep." He promised, blushing. **

Hermione stopped in her tracks and doubled over laughing her ass off. "Wait..wait a minute. Don't tell me you like Harry too, I know he's handsome and all but that was unexpected. What's next you are going to tell me that you find Ron hot? Ha ha! And don't worry, your secrets safe with me. Even though it's tempting to tell but I won't. And you wouldn't dare kill me because I'm the one that is keeping you out of trouble. Never I thought to see the day that the all mighty Draco Malfoy would blush." Hermione said smugly.

**"I don't fancy him, Granger." Draco said, his ears a bright scarlet. "If anything he'd be great for a night or two, it's not like I want to date him." He rolled his eyes, too embarrassed to say more about dating. "He's damn hot when he's angry, that's all. And no. I'm sorry, considering you're dating him, but I don't find Weasel in the least bit attractive. I really hate too much muscle. I like brunettes, with very little exception from that rule." He admitted. **

**Draco gave her a glance, "What about you, what do you prefer?"**

"Well I'm sorry to say that he is soon to be taken by Ginny. Ew he's my best friend you're talking about." she said pretending to gag, then smiled. "I don't know about Ron. I'm starting to think that he's just like more of a brother to me and nothing else. He is attractive no matter what you say, but he's too much of a hot head and I'm afraid that one day we will kill each other because of a stupid little argument." Hermione said looking straight ahead. Then turned to Draco and said, "Don't you dare repeat anything that I said or I will castrate you in your sleep." she threatened him.

"I personally don't care much about outer appearances, just as long as he's cute to look at of course, and taller than me. I wouldn't want to be taller than him cause that would be weird. And romantic, nice, and definitely he has to have a since of humor cause I like to joke around a lot. If you repeat any of that I will castrate you in your sleep." she said smiling, but threatening anyways.

**"All right, little Draco demands that my lips stay sealed." He said, pretending to zip them closed. "I care the world for outside appearances. Who needs a date when they can get laid every night by someone who's fit and great looking? I don't see the point in romance. That's what's great about boys, they don't expect it. It can be one time and it's over, and when it is, they leave it. Even the girly ones, like Blaise." Draco smiled. "If I told him we were through, he wouldn't have a meltdown like a girl. We'd still be friends, because we're not emotionally involved. That's the difference between fucking around and dating." He pointed out. **

"Good thing you are listening to him. Bad that you are holding a conversation with him." Hermione giggled. _'Wow. He has a great smile. I'm having fun with him, never thought that would ever happen in a million years.'_ Hermione thought happily. She bit her lip when he said that Blaise would not have a meltdown, cause she knew that he would just not in front of Draco. "Is all you think about is sex? Wait! Don't answer that! You think about 100 percent of the time. Just because you have a problem having a serious relationship with a girl it does not mean it's impossible, you just have to look for the right one. Because there are a lot of girl to choose from in this school, since the majority is girls." Hermione said with a small smile, and blushed at her earlier comment.

**Draco looked at her inquiringly, "You say 'serious relationship with a girl', like I'd consider it with a boy. Or perhaps that boys can't have serious relationships? Well, I could, I suppose. I could have one. I could choose anyone." He watched his feet as he walked, looking like this was not something he liked to think of. "But I really, really like sex. I'm male, that's just what happens. Every twenty-seven seconds for a straight guy, every eleven seconds for a gay guy. I'd say about every three seconds for me." Draco grinned momentarily, preferring this to being serious about it. He'd rather have three people a day as a teen and grow up, find the perfect person . . . girl . . . give his family a pureblood heir . . . the truth was, he hated thinking about the future. The future meant the Dark Lord. The future meant vying for his father's attention was even more difficult than now. The future was so uncertain. He'd rather just have** **now. **

**And have a lot of now. "Is that all you're looking for, Granger? Some lovely wizard to fly in and take you away, love you forever, give you twenty babies, and a mansion, hm?" He asked.**

"I knew you would say that! Just thank God that they weren't girls cause you would have probably ended up with at least three illegitimate children. Yes that's all I look for, and GOD NO I don't want to have that many children, that would kill me. I'm fine with three or four. And I wouldn't mind a mansion." She said blushing red trying to avoid looking at his face. "What about you, do you want to have twenty children running around the house?" she asked him. _'Why am I telling him this? This is supposed to be personal.' _Hermione thought.

**  
"No." Draco answered. "None." He didn't want responsibility. That was for the future, that was for thinking when he was alone, for times when worrying, **_**crying**_** would be okay. And that was never. "I'd rather life just stopped, that I could stay here at school and never have to do anything else." He confessed, shining his wand into a dark alcove. "I don't want a damn mansion. I don't want a wife. I don't want an heir." Draco said vehemently, jabbing the lit wand down another hallway. "I just want . . ." He just wanted nothing, and at the same time all too much. **

"I guess that suits you. But that's not a healthy way to live." Hermione said seriously. Then thought of something fun to lighten the mood again. "Then I guess I should go tell Harry you fancy him. I would pay to see his reaction." She smirked and ran past him heading towards the Gryffindor Common Room which was two floors up.

**"Oh, no you don't!" He yelled, chasing after her. "That's an outrageous lie and you will pay!" Draco took the stairs three at a time and reached out to catch her by the wrist. "I **_**do not**_** fancy him!" He argued, missing by an inch. "I said he was hot, that's all!"**

"Yeah right!" she yelled back. She hated the stairs it made her grow tired running up them.

**Draco had already paused, thinking he would have reached her last time, so he had to go twice as fast. They were already on the seventh floor (even with The Gryffindor Tower). "Why would you think I'd date **_**him**_** if I already told you I didn't want to date anyone?" He asked, catching her sleeve this time and holding on tight. **

"Cause it was fun watching you panic." she laughed until she felt him grab her sleeve and felt herself falling. "AHH!" she screamed.

**Draco caught her. "Watch it, clumsy." He taunted, putting her upright. "I'm never going to forgive you for this, just so you don't find any reason to think otherwise." He warned, "I'm in no condition to go running up stairs. You're highly irresponsible, someone could be sneaking around right now and we wouldn't know." A small smirk stole on to his face. "Actually, let's go to the Gryffindor common room, you can yell for Potter. Sadly, I think the Weasel would have to hear how you don't love him anymore."**

"Oh God thank you for your reflexes. That would have been painful in I fell down the stairs. Thanks for catching me. I am not clumsy, I'm accident prone." she said looking at the stairs. _'God __I love being in his arms. I felt safe, and he does have a nice body.'_ she blushed slightly. "What! Hell NO! I did not say I didn't love him! All I said was that we may not be a good match. And if you breath one word of what was said tonight, just know that I can easily go into your room and kill you." she said angrily pointing her finger in his face. "And whatever, you are not going to do anything cause you've said that before yet you have not acted on it." she smirked. "Come one let's go back to the dorm it's almost time to finish and I'm really tired." she said yawning.

**  
"Fine. But I still hate you." He said as if this cleared everything up, fighting back a smirk. "And if you don't tell what I've said, I'll make certain the Weasel sleeps with dreams of halfblood, frizzy-haired Weasel-babies until you rid him of the thought. But if I hear a whisper, even, that I find Potter anything but disgusting, I hold you personally responsible." With that Draco started back to the dorms. **

"Fine deal. I won't shake on it cause then you might freak out and think that I'm trying to steal your thoughts. Oh yeah! You better be civil towards me cause you promised." she glanced at him ignoring his comment.

**"I haven't talked about pulling out your organs, cursed, or called you a word that begins with 'M' and ends with 'mudblood' since I said that. Besides, I said I'd try, and only if it was good. That was pretty good, but I'm sure it wasn't the big secret. And I want to know what the big secret is. I'll be even more civil! All through tomorrow!" He promised, giving her a hopeful look. Draco felt the secret eating at him. It must have been something good. **

"True. You shouldn't have walked ahead of us then you would have heard it. But no I'm not telling you, you are going to have to wait and see." she smiled evilly. "You may not even think it would be worth hearing."

**"Fine, you keep that secret. I'll find out eventually." He wasn't sure of this. If she wouldn't tell him and it was a secret, he doubted Blaise would tell. Draco sighed internally, not allowing her the satisfaction of upsetting him, and murmured "Friendship" to the knight. A moment later he was in the common room. **

"Aww! Is someone mad that he can't know the secret?" she teased. "Anyways if you weren't such a pain in the ass and that we hated each other I would have considered you as cute." Hermione said smirking sleepily. Then turned and started walking to her room. "Goodnight." she said over her shoulder.

_'Wow! I told the truth! It's a miracle I can still do it!'_ she thought smiling sleepily to herself.

**"Cute? I am fabulously, stunningly beautiful, in the same sort of way as heavenly beings. Saying any less is an insult to me." Draco said decisively, walking into his room before changing hurriedly (letting out a sigh of relief when Blaise's tight shirt was shed) and lay down to sleep. **

**His thoughts were like so much snow in the blizzard of his mind, which was completely unable to settle on one thing before quickly and undependably shifting to another. It took him quite some time to get to sleep.**

When Hermione walked into her room she pointed her wand at herself and changed her clothes. _'I can't wait for girl's night.'_ she thought. Then walked to her bed and snuggled into her covers, quickly falling asleep.

* * *

**AN: Please Read and Review! :D**


	8. Chapter 7 Fun and Games

CHAPTER 7

**AN:** Hey! Here is chapter 7! Hope you like it. :D

**WARNING:** If you do not like slash, violence, or language, I urge you to stop reading. Just a friendly warning.

**Reminder:** Bold is mike, regular is me**. **

**Disclaimer:** The characters are JK Rowling's, so no copyright infringement intended. ONLY the plot and any original character (that I may add) are mine, and if mike decides to add more characters then those original characters are hers.

Enjoy!

It was a week since her and Blaise started their friendliness, and a week since her and Malfoy started being a bit less argumentative towards each other. It was actually tolerable to be around each others presence. Ron apologized to Hermione, but it took a couple of days for her to forgive him for saying that she was cheating on him. As for Harry and Ginny, they are still award towards each other.

Hermione woke up that morning cheery that tonight was girl's night. _'I can't wait. It should be fun. I can't wait to tell Ginny, I forgot to tell her. Now life seems perfect. Ron and I are happy again and so far no more major arguments have passed.' _she thought excitedly.

_Flashback._

Hermione was sitting by the window reading one of her favorite books when Ron walked in and spotted her by the window. Hermione noticed someone walk in so she turned to see her boyfriend walking towards her.

"What are you doing here?" she said angrily still peeved at his previous accusation.

"I'm here to apologize for what I said. I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just angry at that moment. And you know what happens when I'm angry; I just say even worse things. But you know I did not meant it. I'm sorry, can you forgive me 'Mione?" Ron pleaded.

Hermione softened, even though she was still mad she knew that he meant his apology. "You're forgiven this time mister. Just don't make the same mistake again, cause then I'm not going to be so forgiving. Got it?" she said smiling.

Ron gave her the biggest smile ever. "Thanks. I'll make sure it won't happen again." Then he walked up to Hermione and hugged her and gave her a passionate kiss.

End Flashback

She hurried up in the bathroom so she could meet her best friends, and boyfriend, at breakfast. Hermione gathered her things and ran out her room and past the knight heading towards the Great Hall. When she got there she saw Harry sitting next to Ron, and Ginny across from Ron. Hermione hurried over gave Ron a quick kiss and sat next to Ginny.

"Hey guys." Hermione said brightly.

"Hey." Ron said stuffing his mouth with food.

"Hi." Harry said smiling.

"How's it goin' girl? You are happy today." Ginny giggled.

"Yeah I am, and I'm good. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to meet me in my room for a girl's night out. But there will be a surprise there that you may like and not like though." Hermione said biting her lip.

"Sure I'll go. I'll just have to wait and see, cause you look like you are not going to tell me anymore about it." Ginny said smiling suspiciously.

"Oh don't worry you'll love it." Hermione said.

"Hello, we are here so don't ignore us." Harry interrupted pouting.

"I know but we are going to talk about girl stuff only so you are not going to like it." Hermione said serving herself some food.

"Okay fine. So now that you and Malfoy are arguing less, how's it goin?" Harry asked curiously, but at the same time serious.

"Actually, everything is a bit better. Of course we argue but it's no more than the usual." Hermione stated.

"I still don't trust him, he's probably planning something against you." Ron huffed.

"I know that Ron. I don't think he is, he's probably just thinking. And if he is planning something you know that I can handle myself." Hermione said slightly annoyed and kept eating.

**"Pansy-love . . ." Blaise greeted upon sitting down, looking ready to ask something.**

Pansy had just opened a letter and was scanning the contents, then crumpled it and threw it over her shoulder before saying, "No. Whatever it is, no."

Blaise's full bottom lip pushed out cutely. "But-- Lovely, you didn't even let me _**ask**_**."**

"And the only time you ever call me 'love' or 'lovely' is when you want something that I will absolutely abhor. No." She snapped open a copy of _**The Daily Prophet**_**, nibbling on a piece of bacon daintily as she read the headlines.**

"But you won't hate it, darling." Blaise assured. "You'll adore it. Eventually. It's a girls' night--"

"Blaise, being gay does not make you female. So you do not belong at a 'girls' night'." Pansy informed, giving him the look that meant she was not to be argued with.

He rolled his dark eyes. "I _**know**_**, it's just a name! It's a 'Let's-talk-about-boys night', then."**

"Who will be there, Draco, you, and I? Because that's not very enthralling, we've had many nights like that all summer and it usually ends in you and Draco trying to prove to each other how much you like boys by . . . doing things I'd rather not see." The sound of the page turning was loud, but she wouldn't look at him. Even a Slytherin could be guilted into something if one was good enough at guilting. Which Blaise definitely was.

"I need you to go! And Draco won't be there, it will be you and I and . . . some other girls." He revealed, spreading marmalade thickly on his toast.

"Which other girls?" Draco asked before Pansy could, sitting opposite Pansy and Blaise.

He mumbled something that sounded very much like gibberish.

"What?" Pansy demanded.

"Ones who visit Draco's dorm." Blaise began.

"That lowers it down to half the school, Blaise, be more specific." Pansy prompted.

"One of them sleeps in the room next to--"

"Oh, Merlin, you're having a sleep-over with the Mudblood?" Draco questioned, though it sounded more like a disturbed statement.

"Yeah." He admitted.

Pansy looked at him with shock, having thought his being kind to her a joke. "Disgusting. Why?"

Blaise shrugged.

"Think what your parents would say!"

"Think what they'd say if they knew I was gay. Or if they knew I went to parties and have been drinking firewhiskey since I was ten. It's none of their business, and as long as they don't find out it can't hurt." Blaise stated, taking an overly-large bite of his berry-coated toast.

"Gross." Pansy murmured, wrinkling her nose.

"They aren't that bad." He defended.

"I was referring to your completely uncivilized eating habits. All right, then. I'll go. But only because otherwise you'll say I'm closed-minded, and if nothing else it will be a story to tell. But if one of them touches me, I'm screaming and leaving." Pansy warned.

"Deal!" Blaise gave her a half-hug, then bounced in his seat with glee. 

"Harry, Ron it's time to go to class. NOW! I don't want to be late." Hermione stated getting up to leave. Since it was Friday they have potions to go to.

"Fine, jeez what's got your knickers in a twist this morning?" Harry said laughing.

Hermione smacked him upside his head and said, "You are soo immature. Hurry up."

"Oy! Why'd you do that for?" Harry said wincing.

"That's what you get for being cheeky." Hermione said smirking.

"Let's go before we are dead because she smacked us to death." Ron said laughing.

They started towards Potions. Hermione smacked him on the head too.

"Ow!" Ron whined rubbing his head.

"If you two keep up it might actually come true. Bye Ginny." Hermione said smiling.

"Bye guys." Ginny said smiling.

"See ya." Harry said smiling at her.

"Bye." Ron said.

When the got to the dungeons Ron whispered in Harry's ear, "I have the perfect plan to get them back, and they won't even know it." Ron smirked and told Harry his plan. Harry smirked also and replied, "That's really good, can't wait til lunch to put it to work."

"What are you guys talking about?" Hermione said suspiciously.

"Nothing." Harry said quickly.

"Mhm, whatever." Hermione rolled her eyes.

They sat at the back of the classroom with the rest of the class coming in to take their seats.

**Blaise wasn't specifically nice to Hermione in public, but he did refrain from calling her rude names or shying away from her as if some foul odor wafted from her. Unlike Pansy, who immediately wrinkled her nose, obviously smelling that same imagined scent, one of 'dirty blood', as she explained it.**

But today, Blaise sat quietly behind her, forcing Draco to take a seat next to him though he tried to move away and sit next to Theo, and Pansy sat on Blaise's other side, thus still fairly close to Hermione by proxy.

Draco tried his best not to grumble, but he could already hear absurd giggling ringing in his ears and was not relishing the idea of any sort of party with girls and Blaise, they'd be up all night chatting about pointless things while he tried to catch up on sleep. 

Hermione heard giggling coming from somewhere behind her so she turned around and saw Blaise, Parkinson, and Malfoy. She smiled ever so slightly at Blaise and scowled at Parkinson and Malfoy, then she turned to face the front waiting for Snape to come in and assign them a new potion to brew. _'Hmm, I wonder if there will be a fight once we meet in my room. Probably.' _Hermione thought smirking.

**Blaise waved when he saw Hermione look toward him, but Pansy quickly grabbed his hand and slammed it down on the table. "Ow." He complained.**

"Don't do that." She ordered, and in that moment Snape slunk in (well, the motion of staying in the shadows is usually described as 'slinking', but what would one call the shadows seeming to hesitate leaving someone, dispersingly only slowly in full light?) and quickly made his way to the front of the room, a dark scowl deepening the drastic wrinkles that lay between his black brows and causing new ones near his lips.

"Open your books. Today you will not be brewing, but studying for a very long essay. Monday this will be a double lesson, and you will be creating a complex healing agent, your essay will be on the theory of creating it. Three feet in length, large handwriting will lower your mark and entire letter." He warned.

"Oh, he's in a horrible mood." Blaise pointed out, though this was perfectly obvious.

"Anything but studying happening will result in a loss of house points and a detention." He looked directly at Ron, then Hermione, then Harry. Harry was glared at the longest and the most intensely, the flint chips that were Snape's eyes seeming ready to bore holes in him. "Page 394." He directed. 

Hermione glared back then looked at Harry who was showing signs of extreme anger very quickly. "Harry just ignore him, he's just trying to rile you up." Hermione whispered softly.

"I know, it's just that he seems to be angry the most with me and I haven't' even done anything yet." Harry whispered back angrily.

"Just read then maybe he won't bother us. This is going to be really hard." Ron said disgusted.

"Ron stop whining and read and take notes." Hermione whispered reproachfully. _'I wonder why he's so angry? Hmm. Probably PMSing. Ha! Snape PMSing, that's funny.'_ Hermione thought smiling to herself.

**"Talking, that would be ten points from Gryffindor each, each time you spoke. Potter and Mr. Weasley, you've lost your house ten points each. Ms. Granger, you've lost Gryffindor twenty on your own. Another word for the rest of the lesson and you'll be serving the detention." He smirked, but it was nothing wry or encouraging, instead giving one the feeling that he was plotting something rather cruel.**

"Pansy, pass me a quill." Blaise demanded loudly, having purposely broken his.

Snape glanced up at him and actually looked on the verge of being slightly amused, before the expression fell from his face as he turned and stared at Neville. He seemed to be waiting for a chance to take more points from the Gryffindors. 

Hermione put her hands on both their mouths to shut them up, then looked at both of them with a look that said 'shut up and don't say a word or I'll kill you for getting me detention'. They grugedly kept writing but with such force that it was a miracle that their quills didn't break. _'God he's being such an ass today. Maybe someone needs to get laid. Ha! Like that would ever happen. Who would want to sleep with him? Nobody is who.' _Hermione thought angrily.

Neville on the other hand was looking nervous and scared so he just looked down at his paper and started writing furiously hoping that Snape would not start on him again.

**Blaise began whispering to Pansy, the sound being quite loud in a classroom where only the scratch of quills was to be heard. "So I was thinking of going for the dark blue robes, but then she said that the blue's fit would look simply devastating with my high cheekbones." could clearly be heard.**

"Then go for the black, the fabric was lighter anyway." Pansy advised in normal tones.

"No, I'm not Draco, I can't pull off the black. Perhaps a green? Oh, but I don't much like greens." Blaise murmured, the nib of the clean, new quill being placed at the corner of his lips.

"Green is very Slytherin of you, but I agree. Not on you. I still say the black, but if you insist I'll go out with you another night and we'll find a better blue. I thought that other, the one with the thinner collar to it--?" Pansy suggested.

"Oh, I could. Good think--"

Draco elbowed him sharply, annoyed by the conversation, and only hoped they'd keep any more of it for that night, away from his ears.

"Rude." Blaise stated before turning back to Pansy. "The collar did look dashing, didn't it?" He asked with a grin, to which she only nodded.

Snape had given up on staring Neville down, looking between each of the Trio and then reading a bit of his book, then back up to them again, and completely ignoring Blaise and Pansy's chatter. 

After class finished The Trio headed towards Transfiguration. "What the hell is wrong with him?! We din't even do anything to him, but he still glared at us through the whole class period like he wanted to kill us on the spot." Harry said angrily.

"Thank you! I thought I was the only one that noticed." Ron stated.

"I think that he is either finally realized that he will never get laid or he is PMSing worse than a girl." Hermione said laughing.

Ron and Harry burst out laughing. "Hermione! Such language! Where ever did that come from?" Harry said smirking.

Hermione walked in the middle of them and linked arms and started skipping. "That dear harry I got from listening to you and Ron. I guess hanging around boys all the time gets you used to that sort of language." She said chuckling.

"Well then maybe we just have to stop talking like that, since you are going to copy us, and that's not lady like." Harry said smirking.

"Not going to happen." Ron stated knowingly.

"Exactly. So get over it." Hermione rolled her eyes.

**"Skipping! Doesn't that look like fun?" Blaise asked, perking up and grinning widely to Pansy, attempting to take her arm.**

"Disgusting, that's so plebian. Unacceptable, Blaise." She jerked her arm away, so he grabbed for Draco's.

"No, I'm not skipping with you. Ever." He stated outright, very annoyed with their conduct from the last lesson.

"Hey, love, it's studying. Let's go up to your room." Blaise said suggestively.

"We're all three going, so don't make that face." Pansy demanded, taking the lead in bringing them up to the Head's Commons, giving the password, and taking a seat in one of the comfortable chairs.

A lesson's time went by like nothing, though Blaise didn't allow either of them to get much studying done. Pansy and Blaise then convinced, coerced, and threatened Draco into not skiving off Transfiguration by faking sick, dragging him down to the class. 

When Hermione, Harry, and Ron got to class they immediately sat near the front waiting to Prof. McGonagall to start class. A few minutes later the bell rang and she turned around to start class.

"Today you will be reading how to transfigure a cushion into a cat. It is very difficult so I expect you to read how to do it all class period and write a footlong essay on how to do it, then next class we will be attempting it. Turn to page 495 and begin." Prof. McGonagall said sternly.

For the rest of class Hermione couldn't wait for lunch, she was extremely hungry and wanted to go to the library to start researching for Snape's essay.

**Draco glared down at his book. He despised essays, and he hated Transfiguration. Meaning that this would not be an assignment he would enjoy, whatsoever.**

Understanding the height (or lack thereof) of his own motivation, he decided to take as many detailed notes and possible in the lesson and hope for some sort of growth in them on their own. As it was, this was seeming like a very long job. He turned to the correct page, glancing over to see Blaise staring blankly at his textbook (though he was at least on the right page) and Pansy languidly taking notes. 

When class was over the Trio headed to lunch. As they got there they saw Ginny and went to sit next to her.

"Hey Gin. How's it going?" Hermione said happily.

"Classes are boring as usual, but okay." Ginny said smiling.

"Thank the heavens that it's lunch. I thought I was going to die of starvation." Ron whined.

"You are always hungry Ron. So right now make no difference whatsoever." Harry said smiling.

Ron stuck out his tongue childishly and Harry did it right back.

"You two need to grow up." Hermione chastised them. Hermione tried to eat fast so she could go to the library.

**"I'm bored." Blaise complained.**

"Shut it and eat your food." Theo suggested.

"That doesn't make sense." Blaise then pointed out. "If I shut my mouth, then how can I eat?"

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Quiet, both of you. I can hear the 'pops' of my brain cells committing suicide rather than listen to your idiotic conversation."

"Then we had better stop talking, she doesn't have any of those to spare." Theo said before moving quickly down the table and away from Pansy (who was extremely annoyed by their lack of creativity in their insults).

"I can't wait until these classes are over, two essays already and they're each due Monday." Draco sighed, eating slowly.

"They're plotting against us, trying to kill us with the stress." Blaise said, seeming to have convinced himself.

"I could see wanting you dead, I'd try just about anything right now. You're quite annoying, and this 'party' seems like a waste of time. Besides that it's going to be in the Mudblood's room, yeah?" Pansy asked, looking a bit queasy.

"Yeah. I dunno. Or in the common area." Blaise said vaguely.

"Make it the Common Room, no where near where she sleeps."

"None of that attitude tonight." Blaise warned. 

Hermione finished then quickly stood up to head towards the library. "Where are you going? You just got here ten minutes ago." Harry said.

"I have to start researching on the essay Snape gave us, so I have to go to the library." She said.

"Okay see you later then." Ron said giving her a quick kiss.

"Ew. Not in front of me." Ginny said giggling.

"Then don't look." Ron said annoyed.

"Well that's kind of hard if you do it in front of me." Ginny shot back.

"Anyways just meet us before dinner in the Gryffindor Common Room, you too Ginny." Harry said smiling from ear to ear.

"Why?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you then." Harry said smiling wider.

"Whatever. Bye." Hermione said.

"Bye." Harry said then continued to eat and talk about Quidditch.

_'Hmm. He and Ron are probably planning something. But why would he tell us? Hmm. Oh well I guess I'll see later.'_ Hermione thought. On her way to the library.

**The rest of lunch was spent with Draco and Blaise talking amiably while Pansy groused over the consistency of the ham, a strange taste in her pumpkin juice, and the fact that Blaise would randomly take something to eat from her plate rather than make up his own to eat. **

Hermione finished getting half of her materials ready then left to go find the boys for the next class, Charms.

She found them still eating in the Great Hall and yelled at them to hurry up so they could get to class.

The day seemed to have a will of it's own because it was going faster by the minute.  
**  
Draco stared, not bothering to pretend he would help, and Flitwick pilled his books back up (for him to sit on, Pansy had knocked them over accidentally when Theo had pushed past her), then walked to his seat as soon as it was possible. He was good at Charms, but he found them to be somehow girly. It was probably all the swishing and flicking (which Blaise happened to like quite a lot, adding flourishes and embellishing the movements).**

Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked in and sat near the front of the room, to Ron's and Harry's dismay. Charms is one of Hermione's favorite classes. _'Hmm. I wonder what we are going to do?'_ She thought.

**Blaise flicked about his wand, accidently turning Hermione's bookbag purple with green-orange polka-dots, but quickly fixing this. After all, he's been aiming at Weasley's shirt . . . But Draco stopped him, pointing his wand down. "Don't get another detention, I won't walk you and I won't feel bad." Draco told Blaise.**

Blaise turned his hand over in Draco's grasp, taking the wand with his other hand and sweetly, chastely holding the blond's hand lightly in his own. Draco's perfectly pale cheeks stained a light rose as he tugged the hand away and turned to search through his bag.

_'Hmm. I got the perfect idea on pranking Ron and Harry.' _she thought evilly.

"Professor Flitwick, may I practice with Harry and Ron, since they are not grasping the concept of making objects turn the color that you choose?" she asked innocently. Harry and Ron looked at each other nervously with their faces turning pink.

"You don't need to broadcast it to the whole world Hermione." Harry said embarrassed.

Ron stood quiet tried to hide in his chair.

"That would be a great idea Miss Granger. 10 points to Gryffindor for you volunteering to help." said the professor smiling happily.

"Thank you." Hermione said then turned to her best friends. "I know I didn't mean to. That was the only thing I could do ask so I can help you without getting into trouble." Hermione said smiling evilly at them.

"Hermione what are you thinking?" Ron asked taking a few steps back. Harry stepped back too.

"Oh nothing just practicing." she said still smiling. Then she pointed her wand at them and said the spell to change their hair hot pink.

"HAHAHAHA! You should see yourselves! You guys look awful!" Hermione said through a fit of laughter. The people who were around them saw them and started laughing and pointing at them.

"Ahh! What did you do?!" Harry said panicking and conjured a mirror to see the damage.

"What the hell?!" Ron cried.

Hermione was cracking up so bad that tears were coming out of her eyes.

"You think that's funny huh? Well let's see how you like it." Harry said smirking with a red face from embarrassment.

"Yeah Harry what should we do to her?" Ron said smirking too, also red from embarrassment.

"I was thinking bright green hair with orange spots. How about you?" Harry said smirking.

"Let's do it!" Ron said laughing.

"Oh no!" Hermione said backing away.

"You asked for it!" Harry said, and him and Ron started advancing on her. Then they both pointed their wand at her and turned her hair bright green with orange spots.

Harry and Ron burst out laughing at how stupid she looked. Hermione took the mirror that Harry conjured and screeched.

"Oh my God! My hair looks terrible!" She cried turning red from embarrassment, then started laughing along with them and the rest of the class who were watching them to see what would happen. "That was good guys!" She said smiling.

"Yeah it was." Ron said bowing.

"Why thank you." Harry said smirking then bowed with Ron. Then he whispered quickly to Ron, "This means war when we get to the Common Room." Then smiled evilly.

"Okay." Ron whispered smiling evilly too.

Hermione looked at them suspiciously. _'Yep. They are definitely planning something against Ginny and me. I have to watch my back with them now. And tell Ginny to watch hers too.'_ She thought.

**"Look at Potter's hair." Pansy prompted, giggling softly.**

"Oh, hell!" Blaise whispered, laughing along. "Though Weasley's doesn't look any different, why is he so worried?"

Draco looked over and surveyed the spectacle, staring blankly at the two of them. "That hair does nothing for him." He mumbled, shaking his head and fighting back a smile as Hermione's hair was turned disgusting colors.

"They've achieved the impossible, Granger's hair looks even worse than the rat-family-that-died-in-their-nest that it used to be." Pansy told Blaise, who shook his head and stifled a laugh.

"Who? I think Potter looks stunning." Blaise joked, leering at the green-eyed savior.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I believe the word you were looking for was 'laughable'."

Hermione heard some of the comments that were made from behind her. So she turned around and told Blaise smiling evilly, "Dear Zabini, would you like for me to change your hair red and gold. You know Gryffindor colors, you'd probably look better in them."

"Hermione!" Ron cried.

"You do know who you just said looks good right?" Harry said disgusted.

"Yeah. So? I was just having fun." Hermione said smiling.

**"I look beautiful in green, I'll have you know!" Blaise said obstinately, though just the class before he'd been adamant about how bad he looked in it (which wasn't, in all actuality, very bad).**

"No." Pansy stated, shaking her head sadly.

"All right, silver, then." He looked between Draco and Hermione, then back to Pansy for reassurance.

"Yes, silver would be nice." She admitted.

"Not gold, Merlin, I hate gold." Draco sighed, looking nauseated.

"Exactly. He doesn't like gold, you see! Besides, my hair would look a mess anything but black." Blaise decided, lightly touching it as if afraid it had managed to fall out of place.

"Correct again." Pansy agreed.

"But yours, I think you should go more for . . . all green. Yes, all green." He flicked his wand and her hair went a nice shade of emerald. "Look, now you match Potter's eyes." He said, laughing.

"Oh, don't." Draco asked, though it was in a stern (but whiny) tone.

"Silver, then?" He inquired. "To match yours, perhaps?"

"Draco, have you realized that your eyes and Potter's eyes, the color of them, represent Slytherin?" Pansy questioned absently, twirling her wand about.

Draco fought back a blush, remembering Hermione running from him toward the Gryffindor dorms. "No, I try my best not to think of him or any other Gryffindor, thanks." He said in a bored tone.

Blaise magicked Hermione's hair back to normal, smiling before turning to Pansy, who was giving Draco a strange look. 

"Thank you Blaise. Since you are being nice today I won't turn your hair red and gold." She said smirking, ignoring Parkinson. "But I still have two more candidates to choose from." Then she pointed her wand at Malfoy and turned his hair red and gold. Then started laughing all over again. _'He kind of looks cute with the colors. Haha. He looks cute angry.' _she thought smiling to herself. Harry and Ron couldn't help but laugh at him.

**Draco's jaw dropped. He looked like a magazine picture, a perfect model doing the ideal 'shocked' face. His eyes were wide, pupils so large only a trail of silver could be seen circling them. The once-blond took a piece of his hair between his fingers and pulled it in front and down to look at it, then gasped. His eyes went even wider. "No . . ." He murmured, looking appalled.**

Pansy felt like her ribs were going to explode as she guffawed, rolling about in her chair, the sound almost childlike (strange coming from her of all people).

Blaise was not very amused. Well, he was, but he knew if he laughed Draco would murder him. At the moment Draco was too astonished to be angry, but that was quickly changing.

The brunet boy jumped up, stood behind the other, slapped a hand over his mouth and wound another around him to keep him from hexing anyone or cursing and losing their house points. He used the hand encircling Draco to pull out his own wand and undo the coloring, though the damage was done.

Draco's ears burned and his cheeks tinted, rose flooding into his cheeks. He looked very, very angry. "I'm going to kill her." He spat after wiggling out of Blaise's grasp, but Blaise quickly caught him again, stifling yet another laugh.

"Hush, it's over."

The blond shook his head, glaring at Hermione with a deep loathing, a look that threatened to take from her everything she ever held dear. 

"Aww. Is little Malfoy mad that his treasured hair was damaged?" Hermione said with fake sweetness. "Oh well. Better luck next time." She turned to Harry and Ron still laughing at Malfoy for him blushing. "Come on lets go class is over, and as much fun as I'm having I'm starving. So let's go to dinner." Hermione said smiling her eyes twinkling.

"Don't forget we have to go to the Gryffindor Common Room first. To meet up with Ginny." Harry said trying to hold back the tears that were about to fall because of Malfoy's reaction.

"Since when have you been nice to Zabini" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Ron get over it, he was nice enough to not turn my hair another color so I repaid him for it." She said slightly annoyed.

"Oh." Ron said sheepishly.

**Draco felt humiliated, furious, and for good reason. He strained against Blaise's grip, but his quicker, lithe form was no match for Blaise's more toned muscles, which held him firmly in place. Draco attempted to glare at Blaise, but considering the other boy was behind him he only managed to look like he was trying to observe his own lowered eyebrows.**

"Stop squirming and I'll let you promise you won't do anything to them." Blaise whispered insistently.

Knowing their was no other way out, he froze. The brunet dropped the hand that covered Draco's mouth, wrapping that arm around the blond also. "Fine. I swear." Draco said, just agreeing to be let go.

"You'd better not lie, I'll hex you." Blaise warned, giving a final squeeze before sitting down in his seat again.

Draco shot a death-look at the Gryffindors one last time as they left, then stood and rushed away from Blaise and Pansy.

Blaise sighed, waved to Pansy, then followed the other boy. He knew they would stop and perhaps talk about it, or Draco would just sit there and stew in his anger, leaving Blaise to chat and soothe him. But this was a job he enjoyed, and he loved being the only one given it. 

The Trio headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room. "Harry, Ron, why are we going there? Why couldn't we just meet her in the Great Hall cause I'm hungry?" Hermione turned to them and pouted.

"Hermione you know we can't tell you that." Ron said putting his arms around her shoulders and smirking.

"Yeah what's the fun in that?" Harry haughtily.

"Hmpf. You two are no fun." she said trying not to smile.

They got there a few minutes later. When they walked in they saw Ginny sitting at one of the tables studying. Then suddenly Ron picked Hermione up and threw her over his shoulder while Harry ran and did the same for Ginny.

"Ron put me down this instant!" Hermione said laughing.

"Nope. Revenge is a bitch isn't it." he said smirking.

"Harry what in the devil's name are you doing?" Ginny said laughing to.

"Well since you and Hermione got to prank us it's our turn to get you back. Right Ron?" Harry smirked.

"Exactly." Ron said smiling evilly.

"Oh no! What are you going to do to us?" Hermione said nervously.

Harry and Ron both ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitory and threw them on Harry's bed then proceeded to tickle them mercilessly.

"Oh God stop! I'm going to pee on myself." Hermione cried laughing.

"No no no. You two looked for this." Ron said smiling and continued to tickle her.

"Harry stop! Please!" Ginny yelled, she had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

The boys decided to stop then they stepped back laughing at their messy state.

"You two are soo going to get it!" Hermione said standing up laughing.

"Yes. You will regret messing with us. But that will have to wait til later cause I'm sore from laughing and I'm starving." Ginny said glaring at Harry, then started laughing.

"Yeah let's go." Hermione said.

They left heading to eat dinner at the Great Hall, laughing and having fun on the way.

**Blaise looked disheveled by the time he came down to dinner with Draco, but otherwise flamboyant as always, Draco's mood much improved.**

"Took you two long enough. When is this 'party'?" the quotes in her words were almost tangible in the amount of disdain Pansy placed in them.

"Er." Blaise began, looking around.

"Yes, Blaise, I know when your stupid party is." All right, so Draco's mood was still a little bit on the 'not great' side.

"I think it's after dinner." Blaise told her. "Sometime. Just come up and we'll wait for everyone else to get there." He invited.

"I'd rather--" Pansy started.

"No one cares, come up." Blaise said quickly, smiling at her in hopes that she wouldn't take offense as he began to wolf down his food. 

The four of them sat down and started eating.

"Oh! Ginny come with me after diner so we can have the girl's night. SO don't forget." Hermione said smiling.

"Okay. I still want to know who is going." She said seriously.

"Fine. Blaise and Parkinson.." Hermione said quickly.

"What! Why..." Ginny started but Hermione cut her off.

"Please Ginny just come, it will be fun. Blaise is really nice and it should be fun to just hang out and talk about girl stuff." Hermione said pleadingly.

"Oh okay. But I am not responsible for anything that may happen." Ginny warned.

"Thanks." Hermione said happily and hugged her.

Harry and Ron on the other hand were talking about quidditch so they weren't paying attention to what they were saying.

They continued eating until it was time to head for the Head's dorm.

"Bye you guys. See you tomorrow." Hermione said then kissed Ron goodbye.

"Bye. Have fun doing whatever." Harry said smiling.

"We will. See ya later." Ginny wined at Harry. He blushed slightly.

"Alright see you later." Ron said grudgingly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked away, she looked over at the Slytherin table and smiled at Blaise then they both headed to her dorm.

**"'Kay, Lovelies. Ready to go?" Blaise asked Pansy, reaching over to take her hand.**

"Not if you touch me." She replied, pulling away from him and standing.

Draco followed suit, as did Blaise, and they all walked up to the dorm. "I don't know why I'm going. I'll be in my room and then out for the rest of the night if you'll all be in the Common Room." He told them.

Blaise gave him a look when he thought no one was looking, one that searched for where he would be while he knew Blaise wouldn't be out to see him. But he didn't say anything. They reached the Head's Common room, Blaise saying loudly to cover up the silence that had followed them from Draco's last comment. "Okay, Pansy wants to have it out here. I say we take the couch and chair cushions and use them for seats. Later we can transfigure them to beds."

"No one sleep in my room, don't go in there, either. Blaise, if you take my stuff, I'll harm you." Draco promised, making the stop he'd said he would up in his room, also leaving them alone to talk.

Pansy looked uncomfortable and out of place, crossing her arms over her chest and looking around the room rather than at the other people, while Blaise seemed to melt right into the situation, grinning. 

Hermione saw Blaise, Parkinson, and Malfoy come in.

"Hey Blaise, how's it going?" Hermione said setting the floor with cushions. Ginny helped her probably since she felt awkward.

**"Fabulous." He told her brightly.**

"Isn't that such a clichéd response for gay men, Blaise? Really, come up with a new, better phrase." Pansy asked, sitting on one of the cushions rather than helping, though Blaise was taking the huge ones off of the big chair.

"No. I like it, so what if it is cliché? There's a reason behind it, being such an amazingly brilliant word, why wouldn't I like it?" He threw a pillow at her head.

"Hey!" She threw one back. "And I thought, as you are a Slytherin, you'd have _**some**_** sense. But apparently that's only for when you're around your parents." Pansy said the last nastily, and he gave her a look before picking up the pillow and hitting her over the head with it, messing up her ponytail. "Don't do that, you whore!" She squealed, pushing his legs so he fell over backward (thankfully onto the cushions he'd just arranged.**

"Hold on a sec, I want to go change so I can be comfortable. Come on Gin." she told Blaise then threw a pillow at his head.

Hermione and Ginny went into her room and Hermione gave Ginny a white tanktop and a navy blue pajama pants. "Here so you can be comfortable." She said smiling.

"Okay, fine by me." she giggled.

Hermione put on her favorite pink tank top and baby blue boy shorts. "Now that we are ready let's go down there and see how long this will last." Hermione said giggling.

"Yeah it'll be fun to see if Parkinson will stay longer that ten minutes." Ginny said smirking.

They both left Hermione's room, which sealed it's self, and sat down across from Blaise and Parkinson.

"So what do we do first Blaise? Since it was you original idea." Hermione said smiling.

**"Hang on." He said, grabbing Pansy's hand and dragging her up to Draco's room. He entered to find the blond pulling a new shirt on.**

"Can't anyone knock anymore?" He asked, not sounding worried, straightening out the shirt and buttoning it up.

"I need pajamas, love." Blaise told him, giving him puppy-dog eyes.

"Good for you, that's why you have your own money and pajamas." Draco reminded, picking a nice black jacket out and putting it on.

"But I don't wanna go back down. And if you have anything Pansy could wear . . ."

"Yes, because I keep girl's pajamas lying around." He rummaged through his trunk, pulling out a plain blue tee shirt and a pair of long black pajama pants, then a pair of silky shorts that stopped at boxer-level. "What sort of shirt will you wear?" He asked Blaise, knowing Pansy wouldn't be picky about pajamas and handing her the pants and tee shirt.

"Oo, you're letting me wear the silky ones? Merlin, I love those . . ." Blaise cooed. Of course, he'd told Draco this before (and taken them off the blond quickly after), this being the reason he could wear them now. "Give me this for tonight." He pulled out one of the tighter, dark blue cotton shirts he'd bought Draco.

"Don't come up here again, I'm leaving." He did just that, going ahead of them as they went down the stairs.

Pansy and Blaise heard the door shut, sitting down, just as Hermione and Ginny re-entered the room.

"I think we should play truth or dare. You two may ask/dare first, since I chose the game." Blaise allowed, smiling back. 

"Hmm. Zabini truth or dare?" Ginny said smirking.

**"Well, really, we should lay down the rules. Something about dares having to be done in this room or immediately after they're given? Or both. And nothing to get us expelled, killed, or anything too bad, wouldn't you say? But I suppose I'll take either. What would you most like me to do, Miss Weasley?" He asked, allowing her 'the honor' to give her a sense of power and perhaps keep her from feeling uncomfortable.**

Pansy sighed, not understanding him giving her that hold over him, doing what she told him to, but wanting to play anyway.

"Okay. Here are the rules: the things that are said and done cannot be used against us in any way shape or form, we can tell who we want which mostly like is nobody, nothing that will get us expelled, be honest, nothing that will harm us physically, no violence, no wands since there will be no violence, and have fun. So let's set our wand on the table. Anything else that I may be missing?" Hermione said seriously.

**"No!" Blaise chimed in, bouncing on his cushion. "So ask! Or . . . dare! Or whatever you're going to do." He prompted Ginny.**

Pansy nodded her agreement.

"How about dare? I dare you to..um..seranade Parkinson." Ginny said smiling evilly. Hermione started cracking up at that idea.

**"Oh, no . . ." Pansy murmured, rolling her eyes as Blaise took her hand, looking up at her as if he adored her very essence.**

"This is the only Muggle song I know, and I thought it was sweet." He told her. Blaise cleared his throat dramatically.

"You light me up and then I fall for you." Blaise cupped her cheek, smiling at her adorably. His voice was deep and lovely, not something that would exactly be expected from someone that (at times) acted as feminine as he did.  
"You lay me down and then I call for you.  
Stumbling on reasons that are far and few . . .  
I'd let it all come down and then some for you.  
Pretty baby don't you leave me." He shook his head dramatically, pulling her (as she squeaked and pushed at him) to him and rocking to the song.  
"I have been saving smiles for you." A grin stole over his face.  
"Pretty baby why can't you see  
You're the one that I belong to  
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm." He squeezed her, also stopping her struggling, though she was giggling heavily.  
"For you're the sun that breaks the storm  
I'll be alright and I'll sleep sound  
as long as you keep comin' around, oh pretty baby.

"And I know things can't last forever." Blaise looked down at her sadly, biting his lip.  
"But there are lessons that you'll never learn  
Oh just the scent of you it makes me hurt." A deep breath was drawn in.  
"So how is it you that makes me better?  
Pretty baby don't you leave me  
I have been saving smiles for you  
Pretty baby why can't you see  
You're the one that I belong to." It was as if Blaise wasn't really there anymore, he seemed to be singing off far away, staring at the far wall and seeming completely sincere. Pansy had a feeling, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he was thinking of Draco.  
"I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm  
for you're the sun that breaks the storm  
I'll be alright and I'll sleep sound  
as long as you keep comin' around, oh pretty baby  
Why can't you hold me and never let go?" He sniffed once, then paused for a moment, turning his face away to wipe under his right eye with his sleeve nonchalantly.  
"When you touch me it is me that you own.  
Pretty baby oh the place that you hold in my heart." Blaise placed a hand over his heart, looking as if it were breaking.  
"Would you break it apart . . . again? oh pretty baby.  
Pretty baby don't you leave me  
I have been saving smiles for you  
pretty baby why can't you see  
you're the one that I belong to  
I'll be the embrace that keeps you warm  
for you're the sun that breaks the storm  
I'll be alright and I'll sleep sound  
as long as you keep comin' around, oh pretty baby." The song ended, and Blaise looked away again, sniffing one last time, then grinned for everyone to see.

"I'm done! Do it to Pansy." Blaise announced, his brown eyes still a bit glassy.

((Song: Pretty Baby, By: Vanessa Carlton) 

There were wolf whistles and applause coming from Hermione and Ginny. "Oh my God Blaise! That was really good and beautiful. You can sing, your hot, and your smart. Too bad your gay cause I would have taken you away." Hermione praised.

"Yeah you were really good." Ginny giggled. "Your next Blaise."

**"Okay!" He grinned. "You're spared, Pansy." He told her, "I think I already upset you enough."**

Pansy smiled. "Whatever you say, just don't touch me."

Blaise lunged and tackled her, giving her a bearhug as he said. "Granger, truth or dare?" 

"Um..." Afraid of what he might make her say or do. "Truth for now." She said smiling nervously.

**"Okay, I'll start out easy on you, because really I'm afraid you'll run from the hills." Blaise said in his best soothing voice, giving her a calming smile. "How about . . . what do you like in a man? Specifically, the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual factors. And magical, I guess, if that plays a role." **

"Hmm. I could have sworn I had that same question asked, except that Malfoy was the one that asked." She said smirking at the memory. "I like built guys, not too much muscle cause I don't want to be crushed to death, mentally stable, likes me for who I am, romantic, funny, athletic, definitely a sense of humor, the spiritual factors are important but if you have your own beliefs then that's you, and I would like to be with someone magical. I think that's it." Hermione said smiling.

"Damn Hermione! I thought you were giving a speech. That's how long it was. But I agree with a lot of what you said though." Ginny agreed.

**Pansy cocked an eyebrow, obviously having her disagreements, but Blaise spoke before she could. "Oh, if only boys came like that." He said, flexing his biceps and then flapping a hand in a way that signified he was kidding. "Your turn next, though." He reminded, crossing his legs and waiting. **

"That is soo true." Ginny said smiling.

"Okay. Parkinson, truth or dare?" Hermione asked with a straight face.  
**  
"Um." She said nervously, looking over to Blaise, who nodded encouragingly. "D-dare." Pansy mumbled, slightly stuttering.**

"Um..hmm...how about hug Ginny and dance to the song 'Sexy Back' by Justin Timberlake." Hermione said smiling sweetly as possible to hide the fact that the didn't think that Parkinson knew the song. Hermione got up and got her wand to get the song playing for her, then sat back down next to Ginny.

**"YES!" Blaise squeaked, jumping up and bouncing on the balls on his feet, spinning, and sitting down, grinning.**

"No, no, no!" Pansy groaned. "I hate that song and I hate you for loving it, Blaise Antonius Zabini!"

"Yes! That song, it's the one we heard at the Muggle club we went to when Draco was sick, yeah?" He asked, though he was obviously sure.

"That disgusting place." Pansy said, wrinkling her nose.

"It was beautiful. But you're dared, no backing out." Blaise reminded.

"I guess this sort of counts as a dare for Weasley, too." She pointed out, standing and opening her arms, barely even looking queasy. She was slightly confused as to how she was supposed to dance when hugging someone, but she'd figure it out.

"Oh! Sorry Ginny. I didn't say it correctly, I meant to say hug Ginny then separate and dance to 'Sexy Back'. Oh well but hey it will be fun to watch! But what's done is done, so go ahead. And don't worry it'll be your turn to pick the next person so you won't have to pick this time." Hermione said laughing.

Ginny glared at her. "You do know I hate you at the current moment right?" She hissed.

Hermione laughed harder. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Hmpf. Let's get this over with." Ginny huffed walking to Parkinson. Then hugged her. _'God I'm going to die am I? Why me? I am soo going to get her back.'_ Ginny thought angrily, then smiled inwardly because she had the perfect way to get her back.

**Pansy suppressed a shutter, her skin crawling with the thought that she was touching a Blood Traitor. She looked to Hermione, giving her a brief glare for making her embrace Ginny, and began dancing unsurely. **

Ginny started to giggle at Parkinson's awkward dancing. "Aww come on Parkinson you should know how to dance better than that." Ginny said sarcastically.

Hermione was cracking up at the two girls "dancing." It was more like shaking their hips side to side.

**"You're doing no better, Weasley." Pansy snapped, gaining confidence with this exclamation and dancing more earnestly, only a bit upset by the fact it was still Ginny in her arms.**

The door opened, and Draco entered. "Pansy, I didn't know you had it in you. How absolutely strange." He said dryly, shrugging out of the coat that was over his shirt.

"It's truth or dare, you imbecile." She told him through clenched teeth, still dancing. "And if you tell anyone, I'll do something very unpleasant involving something that means very much to you."

Draco subtly interlocked his own fingers, using his coat and hands to guard the zipper of his trousers and what lay beneath it.

She glared at this, and Blaise just smiled up at him from his seat on a cushion. "You're back quickly, everything go alright?" He asked.

"It went fine, it's not as if these things always take long." Meaning, of course, he hadn't had to journey far to find whoever he was looking for to busy him. "I'm changing my shirt, I like the blue-grey one better."

"Oh, I adore that one." Blaise reminded him, causing Draco to make a face that clearly meant he was not choosing it for Blaise's approval. 

When the song finished Ginny quickly let go of her and sat down next Hermione.

"My dear Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed smirking evilly. "It's your turn. Hmm..let me think." Ginny tapped her chin pretending to be deep in thought.

Hermione gulped. She knew that her friend was going take revenge out.

"Oh! I got it! Truth or Dare?" Ginny asked.

"Umm...dare." said Hermione trying not to sound scared.

Ginny's smirk widened. "Okay. I dare you to kiss our dear Draco and tell him how hot he is. You have to do that right in front of us so we can see that you did your dare."

"WHAT!" Hermione yelled. _'Oh no! How the hell am I going to ignore the fact that I have a crush on him if I'm going to be forced to come in contact of him.'_ she thought panicking.

**"Oh, no, no, no." Draco said in a flippant manor. "I really don't think it's fair to include someone not in the game, isn't it against the rules?"**

"No." Blaise told him, smiling tightly and obviously uncomfortable.

"What kind of people are you?" Draco demanded, looking upset and he glanced wildly around. "I refuse! You can't make me." He said childishly.

"What have I told you about that tone?" Pansy asked in the voice that a parent may use the fifteenth time their child whined in an hour, bored and irritated.

"Well, it's simply unfair. I'm not bound by these stupid rules, I won't--" He said superiorly.

"Just let her do the goddamn dare, Draco!" Blaise shouted angrily, wanting it over with.

Draco looked taken-aback. Blaise never spoke to him like that, he was always calm. "Fine." He replied automatically in a low voice, then his ears went red upon realizing what he'd agreed to. "Hurry it up, Granger, I don't have all night."

"You can devote a bit of your time to your best friends, I hereby initiate you into the game for at least the next round." Pansy said as if knighting him from her seat.

Draco waited impatiently, licked his lips and swallowed rapidly to stop the fear he tried to ignore building in the pit of his stomach and scratching at his heart, making it beat faster. On the outside, he just looked annoyed and calm, but inside it looked like he was on the verge of catastrophe.

"No! You guys can't think that I'm going to go through with this? Ginny how could you? You know he's with Blaise!" she cried horrified looking at everyone. She was not only horrified with the fact that Blaise was there, she was also horrified that she seemed sort of happy that she was going to be able to kiss him. When she realized that her heart started beating madly in her chest and she started blushing like a tomato.

"Oh no no no! You picked dare my dear so you have to do it. If not you are going to have to walk into the Great Hall only wearing one of my _small_ bikini bathing suit. So choose." Ginny said shaking her head.

"Ugh! Ginny I hate you! Ahh! Fine I'll kiss the ferret, but I swear that before I go to bed tonight I'm going to have to scrub my lips for ever after this." she said defeated. If possible Hermione blushed even redder at the thought of her in one of Ginny's bathing suits. She suppressed a shudder.

Ginny just continued smirking at her. "Revenge is a bitch isn't it."

Hermione glared at her, she got up and walked to Malfoy knelt in front of him then placed her hand at either side of his face and looked him dead in the eye and said "You are Hot Malfoy." _'Hmm. he has soft skin.'_ she thought. Then she closed her eyes and kissed him but as quickly as she did she let go of him as if burned and rushed back to her seat still blushing brightly.

She looked at Blaise apologetically. _'That wasn't as bad as I thought. He actually has the softest lips, no wonder girls are constantly talking about how perfect he is.'_ she thought relieved that she got over it.

**The tops of his cheekbones burned an adorable pink as Hermione moved down. He stared defiantly at her as she made her proclamation, and refused to close his eyes as she touched each side of his face. Small, gentle, feminine hands. Draco barely registered the feeling of her lips before she left and he rubbed at them with his sleeve as though germs had been passed from her to him through the contact.**

Blaise was staring at him, and he couldn't meet those knowing eyes. Not now, it would have to wait. He knew whatever it was that Blaise would find wouldn't be something he liked, but at least it could be later. Later, when he had time to sooth him.

"Who's turn is it?" Blaise sounded a bit distant as he threw back up the mask of happiness, all rainbows, kittens, and flowers. The look didn't reach his eyes for all the years of practice he had throwing away emotions. 

"It's my turn." Hermione said. She looked at each one of them trying to decide who was her next victim, her eyes stopped on Ginny. "Ginny truth or dare?" she said brightly.

"Me again! Not fair." Ginny pouted.

"Ginny you got into this game, so pick?" Hermione smiled.

"I pick truth." said Ginny proudly.

"Wait before I forget. Malfoy the rules are: the things that are said and done cannot be used against us in any way shape or form, we can tell who we want which mostly like is nobody, nothing that will get us expelled, be honest, nothing that will harm us physically, no violence, no wands since there will be no violence, and have fun. So set your wand on the table." Hermione said in a business tone.

**"Whatever, but I'm not trusting you around my wand again." He handed it to Pansy. "Keep it safe."**

Pansy rolled her eyes and placed it on the sidetable next to her. 

Hermione turned to Ginny. "What is your most embarrassing moment in your life?"

Ginny started shuffling in her mind thinking of something. "My most embarrassing time of my life was that I ever thought that Lockhart was hot." She said blushing from the embarrassment. "God, I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

Hermione laughed. "Really? Wow that was something. I thought you would have more embarrassing things to say." Hermione said smiling, her eyes glinting.

Ginny stuck her tongue out childishly. "No that's the most embarrassing."

**"He was beautiful in a pressed way, but the man was an idiot if ever their was one." Draco commented.**

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Be glad you weren't accepting of yourself then, you just don't understand the allure of someone who actually does something with themselves. Saves people. A hero."

Draco looked away and cleared his throat, looking distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of liking heroes. "They'd just be no fun at all." He said, the lie actually showing a bit before he hid it, making Blaise look at him inquisitively. 

"Yeah whatever Malfoy, need I remind you that he's taken." Hermione snickered.

Ginny looked at Hermione questioningly but ignored the comment for the time being. "Anyways it's my turn, so Malfoy truth or dare?" Ginny asked cocking her head to the side.

**"Pansy Parkinson, I will hate you for the rest of my days for getting me into this." Draco told her, looking more confident than he had a moment before. "Truth."**

"Oh, come on, that's no fun at all!" Pansy complained, but Blaise moved closer to him and patted his hand before it was pulled away.

"Don't worry, Draco. We'll all love you just the same, even if you are a priss." Blaise said patronizingly.

"Shut it, I don't want to know what I'd be dared to do, probably strip starkers with every person here being a girl." Draco replied, smirking as Blaise pretended offense.

"Do something horrible to him, Weasley." Blaise bid, holding a hand over his chest as if wounded. 

"Well it wouldn't have been a bad idea. Oh well!" Ginny said winking at Draco. She thought for a while the jumped at the idea that formed in her head. "Is it true that you have had certain _thoughts_ about the Gryffindor girls?" she said leaning back on her elbows and stretching her legs.

Hermione chuckled. _'He is never going to admit to that even thought it's true, not only the girls though.'_ she thought laughing knowingly to herself.

**Draco's blush encompassed the entire cheekbone, his neck, his ears, and the area around his temples. This was by far the hottest his face had ever been, and he absolutely despised it. Knowing it wouldn't help, he had a brief nervous breakdown, which he hid with a coughing fit.**

Several long attempts at clearing his throat later, and he mumbled an answer into his hands.

"We can't hear you, love." Blaise told him, only to be shoved by Draco.

"I said--" He began loudly, then murmured brokenly again, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"I've never seen you so embarrassed, I thought you were good about hiding emotion." Pansy teased.

"Shut the hell up." Draco said so that everyone could hear, still not looking up.

"It doesn't count unless you say it for all of us to hear." Blaise stated.

Draco looked at the ceiling, as if looking at the people he spoke to would allow them to hear and understand him. "Yes, I have had sexual thoughts about Gryffindors."

"The question was 'Gryffindor girls'." Blaise reminded, trying to elongate his torture.

The blond's pink blush filled in even more of his face. "Not usually the girls." He mumbled again, this time loud enough to understand if you were really listening.

"What?!" Blaise yelled, since he was sitting right next to him.

"The answer was yes. Leave me alone, I've humiliated myself enough for a night." Draco touched his cheeks, which felt feverish, and cooled them with his hands and the metal of his wizard's watch.

"This is rather interesting." Pansy said, smiling mischievously. "I think he needs to elaborate. Who, specifically, are they about?"

"No, she asked girls and I told her that I had the thoughts, the end!" Draco replied, anger reversing the flush.

"Wasn't it somewhere in the rules that the person who asked the question could push him further, if the answer wasn't satisfactory?" Pansy asked, subtly pushing the others to lie for her, as Draco hadn't actually heard the rules.

"You didn't say it, it doesn't count." The blond Slytherin glared about the circle, searching for fear or pity to help him out. 

Hermione was rolling around the pillow covered floor about to die of laughter. Ginny was also laughing hysterically, so much that she had tears coming out.

It took Hermione a few minutes to compos herself, after she did she turned to Malfoy with an evil knowing smile and said, "My my my. I never knew that Malfoy could be embarrassed. I wonder who is in your thoughts specifically, I think I may have an idea."

Ginny's head snapped in Hermione's direction. "Who?!" she said clearly interested.

"You may not like it when you hear it." Hermione warned.

"So just please tell me." Ginny begged.

Hermione leaned over to Ginny and whispered Ron's name. Ginny's eyes bulged and a disgusted look came over her face.

"No! That's wrong and disgusting on soo many levels." Ginny said gagging.

"I don't know if I'm right, but ask him yourself." Said Hermione giggling. _'This is going to be fun. Though I don't regret kissing Draco I have to break up with Ron cause all I'm doing is leading him on. Ugh, that's not going to be pleasant.'_ Hermione thought were jumbled with many emotions.

Ginny turned to Malfoy. "Is the person whose occupied your thoughts my brother Ron?" she asked curiously, purposefully avoid asking who directly because she knew that it could not be her brother. That was impossible, so she thought that she would let him slide since he's already embarrassed enough.

**Draco was glaring, "Don't tell--" He'd started before she told anyway. At least, that's what it looked like. At that moment he swore to Merlin and every demon in hell he would hurt her some day.**

But then Ginny asked that ridiculous question, and Draco began dry-heaving. A choking sound broke out as Blaise shook with surprised laughter, his face turning a nice brick under his dark skin tone from his lack of air.

"Oh, not a Weasley, that's too--" Pansy started, then looked over at Ginny. "No offence, Weasley." She then said appealingly. "Not that thing, though?"

It was obvious this wasn't the truth, as Draco looked positively outraged and disgusted. "No." He stated angrily. "Weasley is _**not**_** in any dreams I have but the ones that exterminate the scum of the Earth, how could you think that?"**

"That Finnigan fellow, then?" Blaise asked incredulously. "Well, he is a bit cute in a klutzy, dumb sort of--"

"No! Stop asking me!" Draco covered his ears, which were heating up in his hands, and stared death at Pansy, who was openly giggling at him.

"Longbottom? No matter how you look at it--" Pansy said with a grin.

"Are you mentally disturbed? NO! Hell no. Not any day, ever. I don't care who he looked like, anyone with that last name is dead to me already." Draco told everyone.

Blaise's forehead crinkled lightly as his brows pressed together. "Who else is there in Gryffindor our year? Oh, there's T . . . T-- oh, I know it. It's on the tip of my tongue . . . Thomas or something."

"Yes, Dean Thomas, right?" Pansy asked, just interested in knowing if it was true.

"He's artsy, not your type, I didn't think . . ." Blaise looked for further embarrassment, then caught Draco looking around in horror, realizing he'd just outed himself by admitting the others were not who he thought of.

"Y-you didn't say our year." He mumbled, praying to whatever god there may be that they wouldn't realize they were missing a boy, and would continue naming every other in the school until they gave up. Draco's face was slowly growing pinker again, his head hanging in humiliation. 

"None taken." Ginny replied to Pansy.

Hermione and Ginny watched the Slytherin Trio go back and forth about who was occupying Malfoy's thoughts. They laughed at the names that were said.

"Okay, okay guys. I think we have put Malfoy through enough embarrassment for the time being." Hermione said hoping that nobody figured out that nobody said Harry's name yet.

"Wait I still want to know." Ginny whined.

"Ginny, if that was you would you want to be tortured to tell?" Hermione asked brow raised.

"No." Ginny said quietly.

"All right. Malfoy it's your turn." said Hermione.

**Blaise looked over to Draco, noting his appearance, then something lit behind his dark eyes. Recognition. Without thinking, his bottom lip pulled between his teeth, but he had nothing to worry about. Blaise wouldn't tell, and it appeared Pansy had only been in the conversation because she found his pain at least a bit hilarious.**

Draco smiled when he learned it was his turn, but really, who could he torment? He figured everyone deserved it, but that wasn't an option . . . So he decided to pick on Hermione (whom he was angry with for starting up the conversation by suggesting it was Weasley) and one of his near, dear, Slytherin friends. "Pansy, you've always been such a sadistic bitch." He told her, and she gulped, looking nervous. "But at least you don't tell others secrets you won't tell me, so . . ." Draco turned on Blaise. "Payback, I'm afraid."

Blaise was that one that looked afraid. "Dare."

A few seconds later, Draco nodded, making Blaise try to sooth him, as the nod looked anything but sweet and friendly. "Love, baby . . ." He scooted away. "Darling, you wouldn't want to do anything irrational, let's just forget this stupid game."

Draco gave him a small, vaguely happy look. "It won't be bad, really and truly. I just think that Granger should be given back the lovely gift she's given tonight." He said sarcastically.

"What are you planning?" Pansy asked with interest.

"Blaise, come here." Draco ordered, pointing directly next to himself. Blaise did as he was told, after which Draco leaned over and whispered something softly, directly into his ear, and Blaise wrinkled his nose, but nodded his agreement.

Blaise turned to Hermione, wearing a coy expression that quickly fell to one of passion as he stood and stepped nearer to her, each move seductive, until he was right before her. Here, he sat, suddenly grabbing her round the waist and dragging her to him, flat against his chest. He looked on the verge of laughter for a minute, then pulled himself together and kissed her neck, his lips smooth, soft, and warm on her neck, down to the hallow where it met her collar bone, then pulling away to stare into her eyes.

If he had looked a bit more serious, it would have been very attractive, but instead may have been a bit funny, also. Blaise kissed her lips, then turned to Draco for approval.

Draco's blond brows were approaching the line where they would no longer be visible, due to his fringe falling down over his forehead, but he managed a nod.

Blaise burst into a fit of laughter, falling over sideways and covering his mouth to quiet the sound. "Shut up!" Pansy demanded, appearing sickened.

When Blaise got up, Draco crooked a finger as if to pull Blaise over to him. Blaise sat and Draco placed his right hand on the other boy's jaw, touching his thumb to Blaise's lips and across them, then kissing him for a quick moment. "Happy with my performance?" Blaise asked, grinning.

Draco leaned a bit farther and whispered something to the brunet that made him gape before nodding enthusiastically, which in turn made Draco smile in a satisfied way before moving to Pansy's side.

"I've seen enough of that all summer to last me a lifetime, I assure you." She said mildly, not seeming really irritated. 

Hermione looked scared because she saw the evil smile Malfoy was givin

g her. Then freaked when Blaise started to kiss her neck, collar bone and her lips. She was so shocked that Blaise would do that that she didn't even move. _'God if he wasn't gay I would have kissed him back. He has such soft lips. Damn him!' _she thought angrily.

She was flustered, she was so embarrassed that she was bright red. Then stared coldly at Blaise. "How could you do that Blaise?! That was evil! I don't need to remind you Malfoy that I completely loath you but now I'm going to kill you for making him do that!" She yelled at them. Then started laughing.

Ginny was watching the scene that happened in front of her with interest. _'Wow! Malfoy got her good.' _she thought laughing. She was laughing hard at Hermione reaction, it was funny how Hermione went from embarrassment to anger to laughing.

"Hermione are you okay? Cause you just went from embarrassment to anger to laughter." She ask laughing.

"Yeah I'm okay. I was just thinking how he got me good." she said now getting a handle on herself, then threw a pillow at Blaise's head. "This isn't over Blaise. Karma is a bitch."

**"I'm sorry, sweetie. It wasn't my choice, you know you have to do what you're dared. If you want to be my 'Alternate Lifestyle Companion', we can have a quick go in your room." He joked, smiling and blowing her a kiss. "Feel free to do whatever you want to me." Blaise gave her a predatorily smirk, allowing her to take this as in his next dare or any other way she wished.**

Pansy pushed him, shaking her head. "You're sick, both of you." She told them.

"Pansy-love, you know you enjoy the show, bad lying is unbecoming." Blaise mocked her, turning her favorite word against her. She stuck her tongue out at him. "'Mione's turn!" he sing-songed, giving her an encouraging look. 

"Who should I torment now?" Hermione said rubbing her hand as if planning to take over the world. She looked between Parkinson and Blaise.

"Ginny who should I choose?" She turned to her best friend.

"Well since you have already dare Pansy, it's Blaise's turn." said Ginny.

"True. Blaise truth or dare?" asked Hermione.

**"Both. Either. Everything! I love this game." Blaise bounced happily.**

"That wasn't a proper answer." Pansy pointed out.

"Oh . . . Dare! Make it a good one." He bid hopefully, smiling.

Draco rolled his eyes, leaning back against the front of the couch as he prepared to watch the show. 

"Oh it will." Hermione giggled. "I dare you to do the same thing you did to me a minute ago to Parkinson and give her a lap dance. And give us a good show so don't disappoint." she smirked, then fixed herself so that she was on her stomach with her head on her hands that was upright.

Ginny started laughing and said, "I love this game it's interesting to watch."

**"Not very nice to boss about one's boyfriend to cheat." Draco mumbled, looking almost ready to sick-up.**

Blaise wrinkled his nose. "Do I have to?"

Pansy's eyes were wide as she shook her head, "No, no, no! I do not want a lapdance from my gay best friend that is wrong on far too many levels to count. Merlin, Granger, could you get a better idea?"

Blaise shrugged, "She dared me, I have to." He kissed Draco's cheek before standing and slinking over to her, bending over and blowing down her neck coolly to raise goosebumps and cause a suppressed shutter before beginning his low dips, bends, and the shaking of his backside that was included in his--rather impressive--lapdance. This ended with him on his knees in front of her, leaning in and kissing her neck, up to the place under the ear and down her jawline to end at her lips, where he gave her a very quick kiss and turned to Hermione for approval, this time.

"If you want one that's hotter, you'll have to get me a boy." Blaise told her as Pansy fanned her warm face.

"Blaise, if you weren't gay . . ." Pansy said.

"I'd go for 'Mione." Blaise finished happily, to which Pansy laughed.

"Actually that was good Blaise. But if I went and got you a boy Malfoy will have my head." She said laughing. "And thank you that was touching." she said putting her hand on her heart and blew a kiss at him.

"Damn! Why must the great guys be gay?!" Ginny said laughing. Then turned to Malfoy, "Malfoy I hate you! You get to sleep with Blaise. Not fair." she said pouting.

**"That's the first time I've ever heard that . . ." Draco said, seeming a bit confused.**

"I've heard it reversed plenty, I like it this way." Blaise grinned. "I must be good at this, all the straight girls love me! Too bad the gay men all go for you . . ."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm offended anyone would go for someone over me."

"I'm offended you don't think I'm as good as you are." Blaise pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't think _**anyone**_** is as good as me. You're lovely, but I'm a Malfoy."**

The brunet pondered this, "Too true, I forgive you. But I still say I'm at least almost as good looking as you, and considering that I take full advantage of my body, I think I'm sexier. That's why they like me!" He pointed to Ginny and Hermione as evidence.

Draco shook his head. "They just haven't seen me in action."

"Well, it's my turn, right? Right." Blaise grinned. "Draco, truth or dare?"

The blond opened his mouth, looking shocked that he'd been chosen again so quickly. "Choose someone else."

"No, truth or dare." He said obstinately.

"Fine. Dare." Draco gave him a warning look.

"Ladies, prepare for a show." Blaise conjured a stack of green and silver pillows from Draco's room, then leaned against them. "I've been putting on a show, I deserve to have one in my honor." He announced.

Draco was beginning to blush a bit again. "No, no, bad idea."

"It's an amazing idea. You know what I like, how far can we take this? What's everyone's comfort level?" Blaise asked.

"Good Merlin above, Blaise, I don't want to see my two best friends do _**anything**_**." Pansy argued, pulling a face.**

"Well, too bad. Okay, clothes on, is everyone alright with that level?"

Draco shook his head over to Ginny and Hermione, then Pansy, hoping for a complaint. 

Hermione shook her head laughing, "Blaise whatever you want is fine with me as long as privates are covered." She stuck her tongue out at Malfoy and said, "Malfoy karma is a bitch as I've mentioned before." Then smirked.

"I agree with Hermione. Sorry Parkinson but they are two of the three hottest guys in the school, and we," pointing at herself and Hermione "will never have a chance to see if Malfoy is as good as he claims he is. So You might want to just close your eyes." Ginny said smiling, but looked at her apologetically for a second.

**Draco looked like he was in pain, being a very private person he didn't want to do this in front of everyone . . . but he wasn't going to back out, and now there was a challenge on his ability to even do this act, so it really wasn't an option not to participate.**

"Whenever you're ready." Blaise told him, giving him a small smile.

Usually Draco's lovely eyes were hidden, the icy or fiery depths concealed by his arrogance or disgust, but now as he put on his act, they shone pure lust. He was already rather close to Blaise, so he moved the foot or so it took to be right in front of him, then pushed him from where he'd begun to rise. Draco appeared hungry for him, a feral grin lighting him up as he ran his hands up Blaise's abs to his chest, resting on his shoulder and pinning him there as if he would attempt to move.

Blaise looked entranced, his lips slightly open and his breathing already irregular as Draco moved to cover the other body with his own. Draco's lips hovered over Blaise's, but didn't touch, moving down to bite at the juncture between his shoulder and neck, causing Blaise to bite his lip to contain his reaction and hold still.

Draco soothed the lovebite with kisses, knowing just what it took and to what degree to take it, it was an art, but Draco was an artist that was very in tune with his work. With the tip of his tongue he licked one line up the other boy's neck, kissing the start of his jawline and at the same time moving his hand from their resting place on Blaise's hips under the pajama shirt he'd lent the boy.

A soft groan escaped Blaise's lips, though he'd pressed them in a tight line, as Draco stripped that piece of cloth from him before working his way to Blaise's lips. By the time he'd reached them, Blaise launched at him, straining against the pale hands that once again held him down. Draco smiled seductively before nipping at Blaise's bottom lip, the brunet's mouth opening readily as Draco finally began kissing him in earnest, at which point one light finger teased the waistband of the boxershorts Blaise wore. Draco ran his fingers through Blaise's hair.

Feeling he'd proven himself, Draco moved away, only to have Blaise pull him back hungrily. Draco allowed him one more kiss, ending it slowly and leaving him with a soothing peck on the cheek, the other boy looking dazed and thoroughly happy. 

Hermione tried to look away but couldn't. It was like looking at train wreck, you couldn't stop looking but you wanted to. Ginny was fanning herself. "Wow. I guess I was proven wrong, Malfoy does know what he's doing."

"Anyways let's keep going before you too take it too far and start having sex in the common room. And you both know what happened last time so I wouldn't repeat it if you know what's good for you." Hermione warned.

**Draco looked triumphant and Blaise moved instinctively away, the opposite of what he wanted but knowing that Draco wouldn't seek his touch for a time now, embarrassed and through with teasing him for the moment.**

"I couldn't agree more." Draco said calmly, his eyes guarded, lips swollen.

"For Merlin's sake, put your damn shirt on." Pansy demanded, appearing caught between altogether too warm and disgusted.

Blaise stuck his tongue out, doing this and flattening his hair. "I told you before, love, if you'd like messy dark hair, you're looking in the wrong place." His hair lay fairly manageably again, but he still looked freshly snogged.

Draco combed his fingers through his own perfect hair to hopefully hide his ears, which seemed perpetually turning colors that evening. "Granger, truth or dare?" He asked in a false bored tone.

"Oh hell no! Why is every one picking on me?" Hermione whined.

"Hermione just pick one." Ginny said amused.

"Hmpf, fine. Truth." Hermione resigned.

_'This will be interesting.'_ Ginny thought smiling to herself.

**"No fun at all." Blaise mumbled loudly enough for her to hear him, winking at her.**

"What were you and Blaise talking about that night that you wouldn't tell me about?" Draco asked, grinning at his achievement.

Blaise's face drained of color and his laughing eyes turned dull. His breath seemed to be caught in his chest as he looked at Hermione, afraid. 

Hermione caught Blaise's eyes, she looked at him briefly saying with her eyes that she was not going to tell. Then burst out laughing. "You wanted to know that badly. Wow. We were just planning today's girls, and obviously boys, night." she smirked.

"Malfoy you just wasted a good question." Ginny scolded.

"Anyways Parkinson, truth or dare." Hermione asked.

**Draco looked to Blaise quickly, seeing the relief before it disappeared, and he looked shrewdly to Hermione. Either she was lying or honestly didn't understand the question. Whichever it was, he'd get it from her later, she couldn't just keep it from him. And now he knew for sure that Blaise was hiding something.**

"Oh, I don't know . . ." Pansy looked a bit afraid. "Truth." 

Hermione pondered what she should ask the girl. "Who would you like to shag? Of course not worrying about what house they are in or if they were already taken. Please be honest." she asked.

Ginny looked at Hermione as if she had lost her mind. Hermione saw her look but just shrugged and said, "I'm curious and I want to know."

**Pansy looked up at the ceiling, then down at her feet. She rarely ever blushed, it didn't seem a real side effect of embarrassment for her, but her face felt decidedly warm anyway. "All right. Okay. I swear, if anyone tells anyone, they die." She bit her lip, then blurted: "Ron Weasley. I don't even no why, I just . . ."**

Blaise was laughing, scooting over to her and putting a consoling arm around her, though she pushed him away. Draco looked disgusted.

"All right, if you're all so great . . ." She groused. "Weasley." Pansy cringed at the name, though she had, of course, been talking to Ginny. "You, Weasley, truth or dare?"

Ginny was about to answer when Hermione cut her off. "Can you guy's give us a sec I have to ask Ginny something in private. Come on Gin." Hermione dragged Ginny into her room before anyone could protest.

"Um..Gin..I don't know how to say this but..would you be angry with me I broke up with Ron? I know I'm a horrible person for asking you if you would be mad if I possibly break his heart, but it's just that I don't like him romantically like I thought I did. Now I feel like he's just a brother to me, don't get me wrong I do love him but not romantically." Hermione pleaded with Ginny.

It took a few seconds for Ginny to answer, "Hermione I know. I see the way you two are slowly drifting apart." She hugged Hermione. "I'm a bit annoyed that it took you long enough to figure it out but I'm not going to be mad at you when that what you feel. Just promise me that you will let him down gently, okay?" She said smiling.

"I will never dream of hurting him. Thank you for not being mad at me." Hermione promised. "Oh one more thing, you wouldn't mind if Pansy tries to hook up with Ron would you?" Hermione asked biting her lip.

"If they both like each other then no, but if it's just a one night stand the yes I do mine cause I don't want to see him hurt." Ginny said slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I was going to make a comment to Parkinson that soon Ron will be free." Hermione said nervously.

"Well if it happens that way then so be it." Ginny shrugged.

"Let's go back." Said Hermione.

The girl went back down and sat at their spots. Hermione turned to Pansy and said with a serious tone, "Well Parkinson you might be able to since I'm going to break up with him soon. And if any of you repeat anything that I said I will personally murder you in the worst way possible."

"I pick truth." Ginny said.

**"Same question as I was asked, but it can't be your little Potter." Pansy replied, looking embarrassed still.**

"Oh, that's perfect." Blaise said with a giggle. "We'll match up with the Golden Trio, Pans. You with Weasley, me with Hermione, and Draco will just have to take who's left over, since apparently you're set on getting her to admit fantasies outside of their relationship. Hermione, we might as well admit our undying, passionate love for each other now." He said with a laugh.

"I'm not being left with Potter." Draco told them, fighting a blush. "Give me someone else, I want a trade." As long as it was a joke, he could take it.

Blaise mussed his own hair up oddly, "Are you sure? Considering this seems to be your favorite look . . ." His hair truly was only about one third as bad as Harry's usually was.

"Absolutely positive. Now let Weasley answer her question, idiot."

"Alright, it looks like our dreams have been nixed, Hermione. I tried, but he's ruined them." Blaise pointed to Draco as if blaming him. 

Hermione laughed, "We might as well." Hermione got up and walked to Blaise and hugged him, looked into his eyes, "I love you! But Malfoy will never let us be." she said dramatically. "Oh no! As I predicted we are once again torn apart." she pouted. "Malfoy always ruins all the fun. I guess fate keeps up apart." She pretended to cry but ended up laughing. Then she walked back to her seat still laughing. "You know Malfoy blushing seems to be natural for you, are you sure you are a Malfoy?" She smirked.

"Um..damn you. You know Harry is the only one." Ginny glared at Pansy. "Besides him I guess I'll pick Dean Thomas, he is cute."

**"I guess." Pansy shrugged. "Didn't you date him once?"**

"Yes, I am _**completely**_** positive of my lineage, and that was **_**not**_** funny, Granger. Besides that I am not blushing." Draco told her confidently.**

Blaise jumped down beside Draco, then tucked the fine blond hair behind his ears, which were lightly pink.

"I don't care what sort of a fetish being around her has given you, don't do that!" Draco pushed the hair back in the semblance of how it had been.

"Pink ears, Draco Malfoy. Still? You must be overly tired. Time for a trip up to bed?" Blaise offered, raising a brow to show how much of an offer it was.

"Anything interesting to dare or ask of us, Weasley? If not, we're at least temporarily leaving your prying eyes." Draco told them.

"Draco means he'll be out for the rest of the night, because he always falls asleep after when it's night, while I'll be down in two hours or so when I can pry myself away or he kicks me out." Blaise clarified.

Pansy covered her ears. "Merlin's beard, Blaise, I wish you were a mute."

"If I was, I'd just have to demonstrate what I meant." He made to grab Draco's backside, at which point Draco moved away from him and raised a hand as if to push him if need be. "And I think you'd like that even less." 

Hermione giggled. "Whatever."

"Well I was going to say that you and Malfoy are dared not to have sex for two weeks, but seeing how you two are dying to go so I'll just stop the game here." She said smiling.

"Come on Ginny let's go, I still have to tell you a few things." Hermione said. "Bye you guys." She said to Blaise, Draco, and Pansy. Hermione wet over to the table where the wands were kept and took hers and Ginny's.

"Oh!" Hermione turned around to face Pansy. "You might want to use the disillusionment charm on yourself if you are going back to the Slytherin dorms. You don't want to get caught by the teachers." she smirked.

Then turned around and headed to her room with Ginny.

**"Come on." Blaise took Draco's hand, throwing him a smirk before pulling lightly and running to Draco's room, locking the door behind them. Draco new it was going to be a long night, and not exactly a silent one.**

Pansy sighed, disillusioning herself just as Hermione had spoken to her about and heading back to the Slytherin dorms, the door closing just in time to cut off a moan she definitely hadn't wanted to hear.

"Shh." Draco bid with a small chuckle. "They'll hear you."

"Let them hear, I want them to know what they're missing." Blaise looked up at him with fire in his eyes, but Draco gave him a warning glance and he pressed his lips tight together. It seemed he was always doing what Draco wanted, and he was starting to wonder if that was what was best for him. 

Once in her room Hermione turned to Ginny. "So when in hell are you going to ask Harry out?"

Ginny giggle, "Well, I was hopping to ask him soon but..I don't know it's complicated."

"Not really Gin, he really likes you it's just he's afraid to act on it." Hermione smiled.

"I'll try okay. But I'm blaming you if he says no." joked Ginny.

"Nope, you'll be thanking me." Hermione winked.

"Whatever lets go to bed." Ginny yawned.

"Good night." Hermione sleepily.

"Night." replied Ginny.

They both fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

**Draco fell asleep promptly after they were finished, leaving Blaise completely exhausted and not relishing the walk back down to his dorms. Propping himself up on an elbow, the brunet looked down upon the sleeping face of his love. He touched Draco's pale pink lips with his first two fingers, watching his chest rise with every breath, then moving to trace the elegant slope of that sharp nose that finally fit his perfectly chiseled, pale face.**

Blaise swallowed hard, as if to push down the deep emotions welling up inside of him, then looked away. He couldn't even face Draco in his sleep, not while thinking as he was. Pulling together all of his nerve, he looked back, touching the other boy's slim jaw and allowing himself a small, weak smile. "I love you." He said, so quiet he almost doubted he'd said it aloud. Blaise lay a very gentle kiss on Draco's smooth cheek, filling the motion with care and hope, as much as he sometimes hated himself for those things, then pulled away.

How he wished, sometimes, that he could stay. That Draco wouldn't mind an extra hour of him by his side, and since the other boy was asleep he was sorely tempted to pull him into his arms and just . . . sleep. Absorb the warmth, all of the emotions he could pretend Draco reciprocated, and allow himself the small comfort of one night not spent waking to reaching for something that had never been. Would never be.

But if Draco woke to him still there, he would be furious, and Blaise wanted nothing if not to make Draco happy. So he slowly pulled back the covers, gingerly as not to wake Draco, and slid out of the bed. Non-verbally he spelled his clothes back on, knowing each moment he spent was another weakening his resolve to do other than he wanted so badly. With one final glance, Blaise left the room, filled with trepidation that tomorrow Draco would have drifted even farther from his searching eyes and stupidly-optimistic touches.

Just as the door closed, Draco's eyes fluttered open, his brows lowering and knitting. Had he been dreaming? He could have sworn . . . but no, that was not who Blaise was. With a shake of his head, he rolled onto his side and fell back to sleep.

AN: Please Read and Review! :D


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